Black bears are opportunistic omnivores with varied diets including plants, fruits, nuts, insects, and small mammals. Ferns are not typically a significant part of their diet, but they may occasionally consume them, especially in spring when other food is scarce.
Preferred plant foods include berries, nuts, fruits, and succulent vegetation. Bears also raid beehives for honey and eat insects such as ants and grubs. Small mammals like rodents, rabbits, and even deer may be part of their diet.
While black bears may browse on fern fiddleheads in spring or ingest ferns unintentionally, ferns are not a staple and they do not actively seek them out as a primary food source.