The question of whether a mole might prey on a bird is a common one, but the answer is a clear negative. Moles are highly specialized subterranean mammals whose lives are spent almost entirely underground, making surface-dwelling birds an improbable and impractical food source. They are classified as insectivores, a group that includes shrews and hedgehogs. This classification defines their diet as being primarily made up of invertebrates they encounter in their dark, tunnel-filled habitat.
The Mole’s Actual Menu
Moles are voracious predators, sustaining themselves almost exclusively on underground organisms. The bulk of their diet is comprised of earthworms, which can account for up to 90% of their total food intake in some species. They also consume other invertebrates like insect larvae (grubs), slugs, and snails that venture into their tunnels.
This feeding is driven by an extremely high metabolic rate, demanding that a mole consume between 50% and 100% of its own body weight in food daily. They must eat continuously, and even a short period of starvation, sometimes as little as 12 hours, can lead to death. Moles have developed specialized techniques for handling their favorite meal, the earthworm, sometimes squeezing the worm to remove dirt before consumption. They are also known to bite the head of a captured earthworm to paralyze it, which allows them to store hundreds of live worms in underground larders for later consumption during times of scarcity.
Subterranean Hunting Strategy
A mole’s entire anatomy and behavior are adapted for life and hunting beneath the surface, making the pursuit of surface prey impossible. Their paddle-shaped forefeet and large claws are engineered for rapid excavation, allowing some species to dig up to 160 feet of new tunnel in a single night. These permanent and foraging tunnels act as passive traps that intercept prey moving through the soil.
The mole’s sensory world is dominated by touch, compensating for their reduced eyesight. They use their sensitive snout, which is covered in thousands of tiny, dome-shaped sensory receptors called Eimer’s organs, to explore their immediate environment. These organs allow the mole to detect the slightest movements and vibrations of prey within the soil and their tunnels. The hunting strategy is a patrol of existing tunnel systems, relying on these specialized touch organs to locate and quickly consume any invertebrate that has fallen into their subterranean network.
Clarifying the Misconception
The idea that a mole might eat a bird often stems from confusion with other small mammals or a misunderstanding of what is observed near mole activity. Shrews, which are close relatives of moles, are also insectivores but are known to occasionally hunt small vertebrates like mice or baby birds if they encounter them on the surface. Moles, by contrast, rarely leave the safety of their tunnels, which makes an encounter with a live bird highly unlikely.
If a dead bird is found near a molehill, it is almost certainly the work of a surface predator like a cat, fox, or raptor, which may have dropped the prey near the disturbed earth. Moles are also sometimes drawn to bird feeders, not to eat the birds, but because spilled seed attracts insects and worms to the area, providing a concentrated food source underground. Any rare consumption of vertebrate matter would be limited to carrion that happens to fall directly into their tunnel system.