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American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

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Photos and Facts about Black Bears

This page contains facts about the American black bear, including physical traits, behavior, diet, reproduction, communication (including sounds and body signals), tracks, and signs.

You'll also find pictures of bears!

Black Bear: Physical Characteristics

Male black bears usually weigh 250 - 500 pounds when fully grown, although some grow to 600 pounds or more. The adult females, being smaller, weigh 110 - 450 pounds.

Black bears measure up to 6 tall feet when standing on their hind legs. When a bear's on all fours, the height to the shoulder is approximately 3 to 3.5 feet.

Not all black bears have black fur. The color of their fur can also be brown, cinnamon, blonde, or even white.

Cinnamon-colored Black Bear

Photo used under Creative Commons from Bruce McKay, on Flickr

Pictures of Black Bears

Click any photo to enlarge.

373e a walk on the wild side by jjjj56cp

a black bear with her cub by beingmyself

curated content from Flickr

Black Bear Habitat

The American black bear is found in diverse habitats, including forests, swampland, and scrubland.

The black bear prefers habitat that is relatively inaccessible by humans. Ideally, this habitat will have a thick understory and a good supply of mast (acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, etc.) and fruit-bearing trees or shrubs.

The male black bear is reported to require from 5 to 200 square miles for its home range. The female requires much less - from 1 to about 20 square miles.

The size of the territory needed depends somewhat upon the age of the bear, the habitat of the territory, and the food supply in that area. The better the quality of the habitat, the smaller the home range needs to be.

Black Bear Cubs

Black Bear Reproduction

The female black bear breeds every other year. She gives birth to 1-5 cubs during January or February. The typical litter is 2 or 3 cubs. Black bear cubs are blind at birth and only weigh from 7-14 ounces.

The young stay with their mother during the first summer and den with her the next winter. During the second summer, the mother drives them off to find their own territory, leaving her available to breed again.

Black Bear Mother and Cubs

Black Bear Behavior

Black bears are solitary, other than during the breeding season or when females are with their young cubs.

The black bear has an extremely keen sense of smell and hearing. Their sight is only adequate.

They will readily climb a tree and are good swimmers. They can move at a rapid pace - up to 30 mph - and tend to cover a lot of territory in a 24-hour period.

Black bears have extraordinary navigational abilities. They have been known to find their way back to their home range after being transported as far as 168 away.

This ability to find places previously visited helps them return to food sources and waterholes that may be available only on a seasonal basis.

Fortunately, black bears are not as aggressive as grizzly bears. However, black bear attacks are not unheard of. In most of these instances, the bear involved has become accustomed to being around people and therefore has lost its fear of humans.

Black Bear Diet

American black bears are omnivorous, which means their diet consists of both plants and animals, though they show a preference for plant matter.

In the spring, they eat more grassy materials. In the summer and fall they tend to feed more on fruits and mast (acorns, beechnuts, etc).

The black bear in this photo is about to eat some berries near the stream. Yum.

The diet of the black bear includes: berries of all kinds, grapes and other fruit, grasses, forbs, honey, insects and their larvae, small mammals such as rodents, fish, carrion, and mast (acorns, beechnuts, hickory, etc.).

Only a small portion the black bear's diet is animal matter. The exception would be black bears that live near rivers where they can catch salmon and other fish.

Species Accounts for the Black Bear

Follow these links for more information about the American Black Bear

American Black Bear: Includes facts on the range, physical traits, reproduction, communication, and diet of this mammal. From the Animal Diversity Web.
American Black Bear: Describes the physical characteristics, habitat, behavior, diet, taxonomy, subspecies ranges, history, and legal status of the black bear. Includes many photos. From Wikipedia.
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus): Information on physical characteristics, diet, population, range, behavior, and threats. Includes photos and video. From Defenders of Wildlife.

How Black Bears Communicate

Sounds and Behavior

Black bears do not vocalize very much.

When frightened, they may make huffing sounds or clank their teeth. In some situations, black bears make a moaning sound when they are afraid.

Female black bears will communicate with their cubs with grunts and the cubs will bawl loudly when in distress. Cubs make what is described as a purring type of sound while they are nursing.

The black bear also communicates using body signals. When a bear feels threatened, it will flatten its ears and sometimes lower its head. If you see this behavior, it's a sign for you to back off.

If the threat does not go away, the black bear will often "bluff charge," which means it runs or lunges toward the threat, but stops short of attacking. The lunge can be accompanied by a slap on the ground.

People often think that a black bear standing upright is in a threatening posture. But, most of the time, the bear is just trying to get a better look around.

Black Bear Communication - Sounds and Behavior

Black Bear Communication: Info about vocalization and body language, sociable sounds, and the harmless bluster. Sound files include cub distress call, bear family conversing, nursing cubs, moan, sounds of cub and mother, blowing and chomping, and a bear threatening another bear.
Bear Communication: Describes the different ways that bears communicate, including body posture, bluff charging, and vocalization. Includes some information on the grizzly bear (brown bear) as well as the black bear.
Bear Behaviour & Communication: Provides information about vocalizations, body language, eye contact, ear position, scent marking, tree marking, and tracks.

Black Bear Tracks

American black bears have five toes on each foot, with the biggest toe being on the outside (in contrast to the location of a human's big toe).

The position of the big toe is what gives the black bear its shuffling gait, with the tracks turning slightly inward.

The track of the front foot of an adult black bear is about 3.25 - 5.5 inches in width and 5 - 6.5 inches in length. If the heel of the front foot registers in the soil, then this can add 3 - 4 inches to the length.

The hind track is the same width as the front track, but the length is approximately 6 - 7.75 inches.

* Reference: Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign by Paul Rezendes

Black Bear Tracks and Tree Markings

Click any photo to enlarge.

Empreintes d'ours / Bear tracks by peupleloup

Seney National Wildlife Refuge by Friends of Seney National Wildlife Refuge

Bear in Beech Tree Markings by m.gifford

curated content from Flickr

More Info on Black Bear Tracks & Signs

Bear Signs: Information about where to find bear signs and what black bear tracks and scat look like, including illustrations. Also describes the black bear skull, feeding signs, bear trees, and other black bear sign.
Black Bear Signs and Tracks: Describes the difference between a black bear track and grizzly bear track. Also provides information about scat, grizzly diggings, territory marking, and bear trails.
Black Bear Sign: Includes info about tracks and trails, scat, marking trees, and straddle trees.

More Photos of American Black Bear

Click any photo to enlarge.

Cinnamon Black Bear by Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography

Maymont Park Bears April 2010 223 by WATERMARKED PHOTOGRAPHY

curated content from Flickr

How to Tell the Difference Between American Black Bear and Grizzly Bear

If you're hiking in an area where both black bears (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are found, it's important to be able to distinguish between these two species.

During an encounter, one's behavior might be different depending on which species you're dealing with.

Compare the Black Bear and The Grizzly: Simple, clear explanation of the difference between these two species of bears. Look at the illustrations and read the info, then take the "Bear ID" test!
How Do You Distinguish a Black Bear from a Grizzly Bear: Explains how to tell the difference between these two species using color, size, height, body shape, face, claws, and tracks. Excellent resource.
The Differences Between Grizzly And Black Bears: Describes the characteristics used to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly bear.

Have you ever seen a black bear in the wild?

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Interesting Nature Websites

National Geographic: Animals: Great resource for information about animals! Includes fact sheets, photos, videos, and articles.
Animal Diversity Web: Provides species accounts, photos, and sound files for a vast number of species.
Nature of New England: Photos and facts about New England wildlife, including birds, mammals, and butterflies. Includes nature journal archives.

Animal News from Discovery Channel

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Mamma Black Bear and Three Cubs

Video taken from a car along the Alaska Highway and very close to the bears, maybe a little too close.

mamma black bear and 3 cubs: by RaeAK | video info

9 ratings | 6,335 views

curated content from YouTube

Photo Copyright Info

Introduction: © Alain - Dreamstime.com

Sections:
Black Bear Cubs: © Tony Campbell - Dreamstime.com
Black Bear Communication: © Suzann Julien
Black Bear Diet: © Alain - Dreamstime.com
Black Bear Tracks: © Robert Fullerton - Dreamstime.com
Black Bear Habitat: © Suzann Julien

These photos are being used under a royalty free license. The original copyright belongs to the photographers and/or agencies listed above.

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Black Bear Guestbook

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OhMe Feb 12, 2012 @ 3:03 pm | delete

I enjoyed learning more about the Black Bear. I have come across some while hiking in the mountains and don't want to get any closer than I was. That's for sure.

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LaraineRose Feb 8, 2012 @ 3:43 am | delete

I live in an area where we see bear on a regular basis. I've never been chased by any but I have seen how fast they run and know that a person would never have a chance of out-racing them. So best be wary .. especially if she has cubs.

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jimmyworldstar Feb 7, 2012 @ 2:42 pm | delete

Black bear cubs look like they'd make great pets until you realize how heavy they are and how big they'll get.

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oxfordian Feb 5, 2012 @ 11:12 pm | delete

I'll never forget the time I was hiking through the woods and saw a mama bear with her two little cubs walking just a few yards away. It was amazing! Beautiful lens.