What is a tertiary consumer?

• A. Eats secondary consumers and are usually top predators.
• B. Eats producers.
• C. Produces its own food.
• D. Converts energy into biomass.

Answer: (A)

Tertiary consumers are organisms that feed on secondary consumers, placing them high in the food chain and often as apex predators with few or no natural predators themselves. They rely on energy that has already moved from producers to primary and secondary consumers, so they sit above those lower levels. This distinguishes them from organisms that eat producers (primary consumers) and from producers that make their own food. While energy is transferred and biomass is produced at all trophic levels, being a tertiary consumer specifically describes its position and diet in the food web.