They eat nuts, acorns, fungi, and lichens, supplemented by fruits, buds, sap and the occasional insect and bird egg. Glaucomys sabrinus has a characteristic squirrel diet. They have excellent senses of hearing, smell, vision, and touch. They also use scent and touch to communicate with one another. Northern flying squirrels emit a soft low chirp, and they cluck when distressed.
The population density can be as high as 10 squirrels per hectare in favorable conditions. Female northern flying squirrels are territorial, but males are not.
Range territory size 0.008 to 0.31 km^2ĭepending on the habitat, the home range of northern flying squirrels ranges from 0.8 hectares to 31 hectares.Strictly nocturnal, northern flying squirrels are active for about two hours beginning an hour after sunset, and again for an hour and a half to two hours before sunrise. Individual Glaucomys sabrinus aggregate into single-sex groups for warmth during the winter. Northern flying squirrels sometimes share nests and may live in groups of up to 8 adults and juveniles. Glaucomys sabrinus is clumsy on the ground, but can glide gracefully from tree to tree. Status: captivity 13.0 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Most northern flying squirrels live less than four years in the wild. Young flying squirrels are born helpless and are nursed and cared for by their mothers until they reach independence. Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male) 1 years.Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female).Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female) 1 years.Breeding season Mating occurs between March and May.Breeding interval Flying squirrels breed once yearly.gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate).Flying squirrels breed in the first summer after their birth. Young leave the nest at 40 days and are totally weaned after two months, though they may remain with the mother another month. By the sixth day the toes are separated, and the eyes open after 31 days. Newborns are poorly developed they weigh 5 to 6 grams, and they have closed eyes and ears, fused toes, and a cylindrical tail. Usually, 2 to 4 young are born, though litters as small as 1 and as large as 6 have been recorded. Copulation occurs in early spring and is followed by a gestation period of 37 to 42 days. One litter is born per year, and the female raises the young without the help of the male. Individuals most likely have different mates each breeding season.Ĭourtship begins in March and may continue until late May. Little information is available on the mating system of northern flying squirrels. Southern flying squirrels, which appear similar to the northern flying squirrels, can be distinguished because they are smaller and the hairs on the belly are often white all the way to the base of the hair. Glaucomys sabrinus has large black eyes, which it uses for nighttime activity. The tail is furred, flattened, rounded at the end, and long (80% of the length of the head and body). Northern flying squirrels have a furred patagium (fleshy membrane) that extends from the wrist of the foreleg to the ankles of the hindleg. It has silky grey and cinnamon brown fur, with white tipped and grey based belly hairs. Glaucomys sabrinus weighs between 75 and 140 grams, and ranges from 275 to 342 mm in length. The nests are made of twigs and bark, and they are softened with feathers, fur, leaves, and conifer needles. The northern flying squirrel often nests in conifers 1 to 18 meters above the ground. Glaucomys sabrinus has been found in diverse areas including regions dominated by spruce, fir, and mixed hemlocks, in beech maple forests, and in areas dominated by white spruce and birch with interspersed aspen groves. Most often found in areas dominated by conifers, northern flying squirrels can also be relatively abundant in deciduous and mixed coniferous/deciduous forests. Island populations exist in areas of high elevation in other parts of the United States, including the southern Appalachian Mountains, the Black Hills, and the Sierra Nevada. Glaucomys sabrinus ranges from the treeline in Alaska and Canada southward in the west to northern California and Colorado, in the middle of the continent to central Michigan and Wisconsin, and in the east to northern North Carolina and Tennessee.
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