Black, white-breasted, plumed, and crested guineafowl feed on a
range of plants and small invertebrates obtained by scratching in
the leaf litter. Crested guineafowl may also feed in trees on
berries and other fruits, and on bulbs from below the ground.
Vulturine guineafowl also feed on a range of plant and animal
items and will sometimes perch in bushes to feed on fruits. Unlike
all other guineafowl, this species appears to survive without
readily-available drinking water.
Helmeted guineafowl are the most omnivorous of the guineafowl
species, taking a broad range of plant and animal material (even
small toads) from above and below the ground, switching their
preferences to whatever appears to be abundant at the time, but
focusing on insects and other arthropods during the breeding
season.
