Cerulean Warbler and Golden Winged Warbler Status and Distribution in Kentucky

NEED: Managing for the habitat needs of nongame wildlife such as the cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea) and golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a challenge in light of changing land use patterns and human demographics in Kentucky. Cerulean Warbler The cerulean warbler is a neotropical migratory songbird that breeds in mature and older deciduous forests in the northeastern and central United States. It has exhibited one of the steepest declines of any warbler in North America (>1.5% annually, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2002; accessed website 16 December 2002; http://www.mbrpwrc. usgs.gov/bbs/htm96/trn626/tr6580.html), and it has exhibited a particularly steep decline in Kentucky (>5.6% annually), the center of the species' breeding range (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2002; accessed website 16 December 2002, http://www.mbrpwrc. usgs.gov/Infocenter/i6580id.html). Due to its habit of nesting high in mature trees and the difficulty in making direct behavioral observations (Monroe 1994) 1, little is known about this species' natural history (Gough et al. 1998). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is currently considering the listing of the cerulean warbler under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southeastern Region 4 "The Service received a petition to list the cerulean warbler on October 31,2000. The petition, which was sent by the Southern Environmental Law Center, was signed by 28 organizations. The petition asked the Service to list the cerulean warbler as threatened and to designate critical habitat. The petitioners contend that the most immediate threat to the species is the loss of habitat, including fragmentation of its woodland breeding habitat due to logging, lack of mature forests and floodplain forests, and loss of winter habitat in South America. The petition noted a range-wide decline of cerulean warbler populations of about 70 percent since 1966" (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2002, http://southeast.fws.gov/newsI2002/warbler/qas-rev2 _9-19-02.html ). Golden-winged Warbler The golden-winged warbler is a neotropical migrant that breeds in the northeastern United States, at higher elevations of the southern Appalachians, and southern Canada. It nests in early successional habitat such as abandoned farmland and other areas maintained by fire, timber harvest, and power line maintenance (Hands et al. 1989). While the golden-winged warbler continues to increase in abundance in the northwestern portion of its range (i.e., Manitoba, Minnesota, Quebec and northern New York), it is declining in eastern and southern portions of its range (Sauer et al. 1997).