Coyotes are highly adaptable canids found across diverse North American landscapes. Their widespread presence highlights their ability to thrive in various environments, from wilderness areas to urban settings. This adaptability allows them to adjust their behaviors and diets to suit available resources.
Primary Food Sources
Coyotes are classified as opportunistic omnivores; their diet is broad and influenced by what is readily available. While they consume both plant and animal matter, their diet primarily consists of meat, often making up about 90% of their intake. Small to medium-sized mammals are a significant part of their diet, including rodents like mice, voles, and gophers, as well as rabbits and hares. Coyotes also prey on deer, especially fawns, and scavenge on larger ungulates, such as adult deer, elk, bison, and moose, particularly in winter or when these animals are sick or injured.
Beyond mammals, coyotes consume a variety of other animal protein sources. Their diet can include birds like sparrows, thrashers, and wild turkeys, along with their eggs. They also hunt amphibians such as frogs, and fish, including trout and salmon. Reptiles like snakes are also part of their prey, though toads are generally avoided due to skin secretions. Insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles, are consumed.
Plant matter forms the remaining portion of a coyote’s diet. This includes a variety of fruits and berries like peaches, blackberries, blueberries, apples, and grapes. Vegetables, grains, and grasses are also consumed, especially in certain seasons. This diverse diet allows coyotes to sustain themselves across different ecosystems and throughout the year.
Dietary Adaptations and Seasonal Shifts
A coyote’s diet is dynamic, changing based on environmental conditions, geographical location, and seasonal availability of food. Prey availability is a primary factor dictating their dietary choices. For instance, in summer and fall, coyotes increase their consumption of fruits and berries as these become abundant. This shift provides them with readily available plant-based nutrients.
During winter months, when vegetation is less available and small prey might be harder to find under snow, coyotes may rely more on carrion and larger prey. They often scavenge on carcasses of ungulates and can hunt vulnerable deer, particularly fawns or those weakened by harsh conditions. The presence of other large carnivores, like wolves, can also influence a coyote’s diet, as they may scavenge on carcasses left by wolves.
Geographical location also plays a role in dietary variations, with coyotes in different ecosystems consuming local species. For example, coyotes in desert regions might eat cactus fruit, while those in forested areas might consume more deer or specific types of berries. Their diet can vary even within the same region, influenced by factors like vegetation changes and the presence of human activity.
Coyotes and Human Environments
Coyotes adapt their diets in areas with human habitation, including urban and suburban environments. These areas present new food opportunities for coyotes. In urban settings, coyotes often rely on anthropogenic food sources, which are those linked to human activities. This can include discarded food from garbage, compost, and pet food left outdoors. Studies have shown that a significant portion of an urban coyote’s diet, sometimes between 60% to 75%, can come from human-related food items like garbage and ornamental fruits.
While coyotes in urban areas still consume natural prey like rabbits and rodents, they take advantage of accessible human-provided foods. This reliance on human food sources can impact their health and behavior. In addition to scavenging, coyotes in human-dominated landscapes may prey on domestic animals. This includes outdoor cats and small dogs.
Coyotes can also prey on livestock, especially vulnerable animals such as lambs, young calves, and unconfined poultry. Predation on livestock tends to be higher during spring when coyotes are feeding pups. However, most coyotes do not kill livestock, and effective farm management practices can significantly reduce these instances.