An organism that eats secondary consumers is a ...

• A. Secondary consumer
• B. Producer
• C. Tertiary consumer
• D. Primary consumer

Answer: (C)

In ecological food chains, organisms are categorized by trophic level based on what they eat. Producers make energy-rich food themselves; primary consumers eat producers; secondary consumers eat primary consumers; and tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers. If an organism consumes secondary consumers, it sits one step above them, at the tertiary consumer level. For example, in a chain where a rabbit (primary consumer) is eaten by a fox (secondary consumer), and a larger predator like an eagle eats foxes, the eagle is a tertiary consumer. Some creatures may eat across multiple levels (omnivores), but when the focus is on what they primarily eat, an organism that eats secondary consumers is classified as a tertiary consumer.