Northern Red-backed Vole - Food Habits

Food Habits

Northern red-backed voles eat the leaves, buds, twigs and berries of numerous shrubs; they also eat forbs, fungi, mosses, lichens, and occasionally insects. Berries are generally the major food item in the diet of northern red-backed voles and are eaten whenever available. In central Alaska, West found that northern red-backed voles relied heavily upon the fruits of several berry-producing plants during all seasons. These included bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), mountain cranberry, black crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), comandra (Comandra livida), and bunchberry. Northern red-backed voles primarily ate berries during the fall and winter. Lichens were consumed only during the winter and spring. In early summer, when berries are not available, mosses were eaten. The mid- to late summer diet of northern red-backed voles also included a large proportion of mosses, although berries were still the primary food.

Northern red-backed voles on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge fed during the summer on berries of species such as mountain cranberry and bunchberry. They also ate fungi, succulent green plants, and insects. As fungi became plentiful late in the summer, they made up a large percentage of the diet. Mountain cranberry consumption declined as the summer progressed even though berry abundance increased. This suggests that fungi were preferred over mountain cranberries. The amount of truffle in the diet remained constant throughout the summer.