If a bird eats an insect that ate a plant, the bird would be considered what?

If a bird eats an insect that ate a plant, the bird would be considered what?

A) An autotroph

B) A primary producer

C) A primary consumer

D) A secondary consumer

E) A tertiary consumer

Answer: D) A secondary consumer

In an ecological food chain, the organisms are arranged according to the interactions of their food habits. Producers in the ecosystem are plants and they are always on the first trophic level. The insect that feeds on the plant is a first-order or primary consumer since it feeds directly on the producer. When this insect is consumed by a bird, then the bird joins the second tier of consumers. This can be so because, the bird is consuming an organism that must have eaten a producer, making the bird to be the second-order consumer in the food chain. Secondary consumers are generally the animals that feed on the primary consumer which can either be an herbivore or both a carnivore and herbivores’ eater. It is useful to ecologists as it offers an insight into the dynamic nature of trophic structure, energy flow and distribution of ecosystems. However, what has to be emphasized, an organism’s position can be different depending on the type of diet in some circumstances.