Forest
Stewardship News Release
May
25 , 2004 - For Immediate Release
Contact: Rance
Harmon, Phone: 814-863-0401 E-mail: rsh144@psu.edu
Future of the Cerulean Warbler
On May 4th, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a revised listing of the candidate species for the Endangered Species Act. The cerulean warbler, a migratory bird that has been in consideration since 2002, was not on the list. Randy Dettmers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that the bird has been under petition, and is still being reviewed. Updates to the cerulean warbler's status are being delayed for the year due to the agency's lack of funding. Steve Hoffman, director of bird conservation for the Pennsylvania Audubon Society, says that the population of the species, which used to number in the tens of millions, has declined to around 560,000 worldwide, and continues to decline throughout much of its range at a rate of 2 to 4 percent a year.
Landowners can help keep the cerulean warbler off the endangered species list by creating and maintaining suitable habitat. According to Mark Banker, regional biologist with the Ruffed Grouse Society, "People might think that the best way to protect a species that uses mature forest is to do nothing. Hands off is not the way to go with this bird." Banker attended the Cerulean Warbler Summit Workshop last year, a meeting of experts from the United States where the bird breeds, and South America where the bird winters. Whether in North or South America, the cerulean warbler prefers large tracts of old trees near streams and rivers with small openings in the forest canopy.
Banker suggests that, given the species' habitat requirements, some timber stand improvement might be helpful. "Anything that gives big trees a little more room." Dettmers agrees, "Timber harvesting can be done that would not negatively impact the bird." Dettmers adds that an endangered species listing for the cerulean warbler would not mean wholesale restrictions on timber harvesting in protected areas.
The cerulean warbler builds its nest in tall, broad-leaved trees where it can be difficult to identify the birds by sight. Only four-and-a-half inches long (roughly the size of a chickadee), the bird's most outstanding feature is its color. The male cerulean warbler is blue; the adult females are greenish-gray. Both sexes have white breasts, white wing bars, and white tail-spots. Hoffman says he's seen-and heard-quite a few of them. "They have a beautiful song, very distinctive. It starts out slow and gets faster and buzzier as it goes on." A study that estimates the population of the species, the Cerulean Warbler Atlas Project by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, uses the warbler's distinctive song as a means of identification. This study encourages private forest landowners to help monitor the health and habitat of cerulean warblers by reporting the presence of the species on their land.
Although there are other birds at-risk in the United States, for Pennsylvania biologists, the cerulean warbler is unique. "It lives in highly productive forests," says Hoffman. "It's a good indicator of the health of the forest, and of bird diversity." The recently updated U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species candidate list includes two West Coast birds: Kittlitz's Murrelet, and Xantus' Murrelet.
To learn more about the Cerulean Warbler Atlas Project, contact Ben Wigley of the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, 864-656-0840, or wigley@clemson.edu.
The Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program provides publications on a variety of topics related to woodland management for private landowners. For a list of free publications, call 1-800-235-WISE (toll-free), send e-mail to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to: Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 320 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and USDA Forest Service, in partnership with the Penn State's Forest Resources Extension, sponsor the Forest Stewardship Program in Pennsylvania.
# # #
