The American black bear can be found in forests and swamps throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Found only in North America, it is the most common and widely distributed of bears. (Steve Hillebrand/USFWS)
Also known as the cinnamon bear, the American black bear is a common bear whose color varies from black to yellow-brown.
Appearance:
Head and body five to six feet in length. Stands two to three feet tall at shoulders
Male weighs between 130 and 350 pounds, but can be as large as 600 pounds. Female weighs 90 to 175 pounds
Color varies from black to cinnamon or yellow-brown. Some populations along the Pacific coast have blue fur, and about 10 percent of black bears in British Columbia have a white coat
Face is brown. Small patch of white often present on breast
Ears small and rounded
Short tails almost concealed in long fur
Five toes on front and back feet feature short claws well-suited to climbing
Habitat:
In eastern North America, forests and swamps. In the west, mountainous areas
In winter, digs out den beneath a fallen tree, in a hollow log or wherever there is shelter
Adult females establish their territories during the summer. Males have a home range of 15 miles or more, often overlapping the smaller ranges of several females
Range:
Present throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Found only in North America, large range spans most of Canada and the United States, as well as northern and central Mexico
Feeding:
An opportunistic feeder, but not an active predator. Most vertebrates the black bear consumes are done so in the form of carrion (dead and decaying flesh), and the bulk of its diet is made up of plants
Eats berries, nuts, roots, insects and insect larvae, fish, small mammals, eggs, honey, birdseed, carrion and garbage
Predators:
Cubs can be killed by large predators like wolves or mountain lions
Most adult black bears that are killed are done so because of encounters with humans, their deaths resulting from gunshots, trapping, motor vehicle accidents or other interactions with people
Voice:
Varies from loud growl when fighting to a woof-woof to warn cubs of danger to a whimper to call cubs
Cubs can produce shrill howls when lonely or frightened
Reproduction and Life Cycle:
Mating season peaks from June to mid-July
Females give birth once every other year, sometimes waiting three or four years between pregnancies
Pregnancy lasts about 220 days, which includes a delayed implantation. Fertilized eggs are not implanted in the uterus until fall; embryonic development occurs during the last 10 weeks of the pregnancy
Litters of two to three cubs (sometimes as little as one or as many as five or six) are born in January or February. Cubs are born naked and blind and will remain in the den with their hibernating mother to nurse thorughout the winter
Cubs are weaned at six to eight months old, but will remain and den with mother during their second winter
Can live 30 years or more
Other Facts:
The smallest, commonest and most widely distributed of bears
Most active at dawn and dusk, but sometimes abroad during the day
Can run up to 30 miles per hour for short distances. Capable of climbing and swimming
Sight poor, hearing moderate, sense of smell excellent
Sources and Additional Information:
Peterson Field Guide to the Mammals of North America North of Mexico by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider
