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Finding simple and reliable ways to document nutritional condition of animals in the field can help us increase our understanding of population dynamics and behavior. In American black bears (Ursus americanus), age-and-season-specific body mass is a good indicator of nutritional status and reproductive performance. However, mass also reflects an animal's skeletal stature, so is influenced by genetics as well as nutrition. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and isotopic dilution provide direct estimates of body fat content, but require specialized equipment. In some species, body condition scores based on manual palpation, visual assessment, or skin-fold thickness provide reasonably good indications of body composition and reproduction. We used palpation for bone prominence and measurement of skin-fold thickness to assign body condition scores to black bears. Body mass, total length, bone prominence, and skin-fold thickness all were positively correlated, but the later 2 condition scores were more independent of body length than was mass. Bone prominence and skin-fold thickness were strongly related to body fat measured by BIA in adult females. Maternal bone prominence and mass were similar as predictors of cub and yealing litter mass and the offspring's eventual age of first reproduction, although neither mass nor bone prominence score was related to the number of cubs/litter or first-year survival of cubs. Skin-fold thickness also correlated strongly with body fat, but not with cub or yearling litter weights. We suggest that bone prominence scores provide a reasonable index of nutritional condition in black bears. we encourage others to include this simple technique in their field protocols.