Insects or snails (invertebrate)
Plague (rainbow) skink
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Plague skink with moth kill.
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Plague skink catching cockroach.
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Plague skink with remnants of moth kill.
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Captive plague skink eating a mealworm.
Plague skinks are not fussy eaters and will readily consume a wide variety of insects including moths, small beetles, amphipods, spiders, slaters, crickets and snails. It is not known what kill sign is left behind. Often they eat the entire invertebrate.
Can be confused with:
Other species of skink and invertebrates could cause similar damage.
Read more about this speciesMouse
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Mouse-chewed snail shell or other invertebrate kill sign
Mice will chew holes into snail shells to access the animal within. Mouse damaged snail shells can be identified by the presence of tiny (approximately 0.5 mm wide) parallel incisor marks. They are voracious predators of insects, spiders, worms, and beetles but they tend to eat the entire animal so no remains are left.
Can be confused with:
Rats leave similar parallel marks, but they are 2-5mm wide depending on the species.
Kiore
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Kiore-chewed snail shell or other invertebrate kill sign.
Kiore chew a hole in snail shells to access the soft tissues inside. Like other rodent species they are also likely to eat insects and other invertebrates.
Can be confused with:
Predation of other rat species.
Ship Rat
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Ship rat-predated remains of snail shells and insects.
Ship rats predate snails by chewing a hole in the shell at the apex of the whorl. Evidence of insect predation can be found at feeding stations or around nests. Ship rats don’t eat legs or the heads of larger insects, so these parts can gather in favoured feeding locations.
Can be confused with:
Predation of invertebrates by ship rats can be confused with predation by other rat species. Snails can also be predated by blackbirds and thrushes, so shells need to be examined carefully to determine whether they have been chewed or smashed open with a beak or on a rock.
Norway rat
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Norway rat feeding station containing shell fragments.
Norway rats predate snails by chewing a hole in the shell at the apex of the whorl. Evidence of insect predation can be found at feeding stations or around nests. Norway rats don’t eat the legs or heads of larger insects, so these parts can accumulate at favoured feeding locations.
Can be confused with:
Predation by other rats leaves similar sign. Snails can also be predated by blackbirds and thrushes, so shells need to be examined carefully to determine whether they have been chewed or smashed open with a beak or on a rock.
Possum
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Possum damage to land snails.
Possums eat large New Zealand land snails by biting through the shell and pulling the snail out. They eat snails like Wainuia, Powelliphanta and Placostylus, which include many rare species. A single possum can eat more than 60 Powelliphanta per night!
Can be confused with:
Rats also prey on snails but they leave smaller teeth marks and a smaller hole. Pigs tend to completely crush larger shells and swallow smaller shells whole. Weka peck neat holes through the central whorl of the shell to access the meat. Thrushes kill and eat only small snails, leaving shatter holes (a hole with breaks and shell fragments radiating out from it) through the outer whorl. Hedgehog sign is similar to that of thrushes
Read more about this speciesPig
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Pigs root in fallen logs hunting for food, including insects and small animals.
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Pig-predated remains of land snail - photo needed
Feral pigs sometimes dig into or tear apart rotten logs in search of invertebrates. They are known predators of New Zealand’s native land snails Powelliphanta spp. When a land snail has been eaten by a pig, its crushed shell is often found. Pigs also eat amphipods, centipedes, beetles and earthworms caught while rooting. These latter invertebrates will most often be eaten whole.
Read more about this speciesHedgehog
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Hedgehog invertebrate kill sign.
Hedgehogs eat a wide variety of seasonally available invertebrates, especially larger species such as field crickets, weta, moth larvae, black beetles, green chafer beetle, earthworks, slugs and snails. It is estimated that hedgehogs may eat 40% of grass grubs during the flight season. Earthworms are commonly eaten in pasture areas.
Read more about this speciesCat
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Cat invertebrate kill.
Weta, cicadas, beetles, dragonflies and butterflies can be important insect prey for cats, especially juvenile cats. Most invertebrates will be eaten whole, but their remains will be seen in droppings if teased apart.
Can be confused with:
Invertebrates are also common prey of rodents, stoats and weasels. However, most remains will be in droppings and it is usually relatively easy to distinguish between predator droppings.
Weasel
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Weasel kill sign on a beetle.
Weasels eat insects, including large insects like tree weta. Insect parts are often obvious if droppings are teased apart.
Can be confused with:
Stoats, as their droppings are very similar and stoats also eat insects.
Read more about this speciesStoat
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Stoat invertebrate kill.
Stoats tend to eat invertebrates whole, including big insects like weta. Insect parts are often obvious if droppings are teased apart.
Can be confused with:
Rats, ferret, feral cat, hedgehog and weasels.
Ferret
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Ferret invertebrate kill.
Ferrets prey on invertebrates, and are likely to eat them whole, leaving few prey remains. When droppings are partitioned under a microscope, the cuticles, abdomens, legs and mandibles of invertebrates will be obvious if present.
Read more about this speciesRainbow lorikeet
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Rainbow lorikeet eating invertebrates.
Rainbow lorikeet will occasionally eat insects (beetles, wasps, thrips, ants, and weevils) and insect larvae (fly maggots, weevil larvae, and moth larvae).
Can be confused with:
The signs of rainbow lorikeet feeding on invertebrates will be difficult to distinguish from that of other bird species.
Read more about this speciesAustralian magpie
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An Australian magpie extracting a worm from the ground.
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Magpies can leave holes in the ground when grubbing for invertebrates.
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Australian magpie regurgitated pellet.
Australian magpies are omnivorous (will eat most things), with the bulk of its varied diet made up of invertebrates. The pellets Australian magpies eject from their beaks can include the hard parts of their invertebrate prey, which includes grass grubs, weevils, porina and army worm caterpillars, worms, spiders, ants, flies, crickets and snails.
Can be confused with:
Pellets ejected by other bird species (such as morepork, falcon, Australasian harrier, rook, and kingfisher) could be confused with magpie pellets, although they are likely to contain a greater proportion of vertebrate remains.
Read more about this speciesRook
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Rook-predated snail or other invertebrate remains - photo needed.
The most obvious sign of rooks feeding on invertebrates is the damage they can inflict on pasture when digging for grubs. See more on this under rook damage to vegetation understorey. Little information could be found on the remnants left behind after a rook has eaten invertebrates or snails. It is possible that, like other birds, rooks peck holes in snail shells to extract the snail. Other invertebrates are likely to be swallowed whole, so no field sign will be found.
Can be confused with:
Pasture damage caused by other bird species or pigs. Sign left by other birds is likely to be similar.
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