After observing red pandas, you may realize that this animal is picky when feeding. The picky nature of red pandas makes you wonder about their favorite foods.
Here’s a quick answer –
Bamboo is the favorite food of red pandas. The other foods act like snacks. In fact, you will rarely see pandas eating other things.
These snacks come in many forms.
In this article, I will talk about the 7 most favorite snacks of red pandas.
Here’s the list below:
- Bamboo
- Fruits
- Insects
- Flowers
- Birds
- Eggs
- Small animals
Bamboo
Bamboo is primarily the main food that red pandas eat. In fact, bamboo takes up 90% of the red pandas’ diet. The shoots of the bamboo and the leaves work well for red pandas due to their omnivorous nature.
The high percentage proves that bamboo is quite the favorite red panda food.
The large amounts of bamboo help red pandas to survive. Red pandas cannot digest cellulose the same way as giant pandas.
The inability to digest cellulose is where huge amounts of bamboo come to the rescue.
Bamboo is also readily available around the red pandas’ habitat. Red pandas do not need much effort when looking for bamboo. Access to bamboo is quite simple.
Fruits
Apart from bamboo, red pandas also feed on several fruits. The fruits act as snacks rather than their main meal. This breed of pandas cannot only feed on fruits.
There are several fruits that red pandas can eat. Below are the main fruits that red pandas usually consume:
- Strawberries:
Red pandas love strawberries not only because of their taste. The availability of this fruit around the habitat is a plus for red pandas.
Strawberries grow well in cold environments. Since red pandas live in cold environments, strawberries are just around the corner.
You are not wrong to say that the cold weather brings red pandas and strawberries together!
- Blueberries:
Red pandas love this fruit since they’re almost everywhere. Blueberries grow in all environments except desserts.
These blueberries grow in many places so red pandas can access them easily.
Blueberries make the perfect snack for red pandas due to their attraction. Practically no red panda can resist the attraction of the blueberry color.
- Cherries:
Cherries are among the fruits that naturally grow in the cold. Since red pandas live in cold environments, it means they always come across cherries.
The quick and easy access to cherries has made this fruit a red panda favorite. It may be relatively common to spot several red pandas enjoying wild cherries.
- Raspberries:
Red pandas love raspberries due to their sweet taste. Raspberries are also quite attractive in terms of appearance.
Red pandas do not have to travel far in search of other fruits. Raspberries grow in cold environments and are readily available.
Insects
Since red pandas are omnivores, they also feed on insects. However, these pandas only feed on small insects around their habitat.
Since red pandas are selective, they only feed on some insects. Below are the main insects that red pandas feed on:
- Ants
- Ticks
- Termites
- Rodents
- Lady burgs
- Cockroaches
- Beetles
The red pandas love feeding on the above insects since they are always around the corner. These insects can survive in the cold.
Red pandas can always access these insects in large amounts since they thrive a lot.
Flowers
As crazy as it may sound, red pandas do feed on flowers. Although eating flowers is occasional, red pandas enjoy feeding on them.
These flowers usually act as desserts to this breed of pandas. Red pandas only feed on sweet and attractive flowers.
Below are the main types of flowers that red pandas feed on:
- Petunia
- Pansy
- Dusty Miller
- Swiss Chard
- Dianthus
- The Japanese quince
- The snowdrop flower
- The vintage gold cypress
- Flowering kale
- Snapdragon
These flowers are a quick reach of the red pandas and are available all year round. Red pandas do not need to go far in searching for the above flowers.
Birds
The omnivore nature of the red pandas allows them to feed on birds as well. However, only a few birds can favor the red pandas. These birds usually live in the same environment as the red pandas.
Below are some of the birds that red pandas feed on:
- The Northern Goshawk
- Red and White-wingled Crossbills
- Lapland Longspur
- Snow Bunting
- Ross’s and Snow Geese
- The Evening Grosbeak
- Bohemian Waxwing
- The Rosy-Finches
- Hoary and Common Redpolls
Eggs
Apart from feeding on birds, red pandas also feed on eggs. These bird eggs only act as snacks and not as the main meal.
Red pandas will not go on any adventure searching for eggs. These pandas only feed on bird eggs once they come across them.
Red pandas often may not feed on eggs from other animals, such as snakes. Red pandas are picky. Thus, they will only select eggs from birds.
Small Animals
One of the favorite meals of the red pandas is animals that are smaller in size. Red pandas can never risk feeding on larger animals.
Bigger animals may pose a threat to the red pandas. To be safer, red pandas only feed on specific small animals.
Below are some of the main animals that red pandas feed on:
- Mice
- Lizards
- Squirrels
Final Thoughts
The red pandas’ diet proves to cut across many foods. The most common food is bamboo, and other favorites also come in.
Lizards, different types of insects, winter fruits and nuts are some of the additional red panda favorites.
Most other favorite foods only work as snacks but still bring some health benefits to red pandas.
Be generous and share this article if you find it helpful. Also, check out whether red pandas are herbivores or carnivores.
