They may also leap between trees and branches. On the rare occasions when they move on the ground, they may walk upright on two legs, their long tails held stiffly upright against the back. Spider monkeys are usually all black, but some have flesh coloured rings around their eyes and white chin whiskers. They eat 171 species of fruit, in particular, figs. These monkeys specialise in the upper canopy, rarely foraging 20 metres below the canopy surface.
Fruit is supplemented by leaves, flowers, bark.
They also eat meat in the form of birds' eggs, caterpillars and arboreal termites. When feeding, they may hang by their tails and reach out for titbits with their hands. They can also pick up things with their tails. Spider monkeys are intelligent with a larger brain relative to its body size than any other New World Monkey. They are most active in the early morning.