Pigs furnish a well-known example of an omnivore. Crows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. As a species, humans are currently divided. While they do not share many of the characteristics of most other omnivores, such as claws or fangs or short digestive tacts, the majority of humans eat as omnivores, eating both plants and animals for food on a daily basis. However, many humans only eat plants, some are known as strict vegetarians or vegans, and may be classified as either herbivores or frugivores.
Most bear species are considered omnivores, but individual diets can range from almost exclusively herbivorous to almost exclusively carnivorous, depending on what food sources are available locally and seasonally. Polar bears are classified as carnivores while pandas are classified as herbivores, although giant pandas will eat some meat (e.g., insects) from time to time, and polar bears will sometimes eat plants (such as kelp) but of neither is the exception a significant part of their diet.
Various mammals are omnivorous by nature, such as pigs, badgers, bears, coatis, hedgehogs, opossums, skunks, sloths, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, mice and rats. Also some primates are omnivorous including humans, chimpanzees and baboons. Various birds are omnivorous, whose diet varies from berries and nectar to insects, worms, fish, and small rodents; examples include cassowarys, chickens, crows and related corvids, keas, rallidae, and rheas. In addition, some lizards, turtles, fish, such as piranhas, and invertebrates are also omnivorous.
While virtually all mammals may display "omnivorous" behavior patterns - depending on conditions of supply, culture, etc - mammals will generally prefer one class of food or another, with optimized digestive processes. Like most arboreal species, most squirrels are primarily granivores, preferring nuts and seeds. but as with virtually all mammals, squirrels can resort to consuming some meat as fallback food if starving or facultatively, e.g., when nests are in danger of being raided by predators, etc.
Depending on the species of bear, there is generally a preference for one class of food or another as plants and animals are digested differently.
While scientific classification aims to promote communication and analysis of various differences and similarities between species, the concept of an "omnivore" is broad and could be applied to virtually any mammal since disease risks and the quality of digestion are often not considered. There are social, psychological and non-nutritive factors that influence diet behavior. "[T]he behavioral basis of omnivory has not been thoroughly explored... and food selection behavior is central to understanding the causes and consequences of omnivory. However, few studies have actually addressed this issue through rigorous tests of multiple hypotheses."
In order for the concept of "omnivore" to be regarded as a scientific classification, some clear set of measurable and relevant criteria would need to be considered to differentiate between an "omnivore" and the other vague but less ambiguous diet categories e.g., faunivore, folivore, scavenger, etc.
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