Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
forests, abandoned farmlands). Biologists are also concerned about the decline of Blue- winged Warblers and their habitats.
• The Cerulean Warbler is declining at a rate of 3% annually (Sauer et al. 2013) and current population estimates represent more than 75% decline compared to population estimates in 1966 (Buehler et al. 2008) . Western North Carolina’s core populations have been monitored biennially since 2012, and efforts have begun in the black- and brownwater floodplains of eastern North Carolina to delineate populations and track relative populations trends. Resources developed for managing habitat for the Cerulean Warbler in the Appalachian Mountains include Management Guidelines for Enhancing Breeding Habitat in Appalachian Hardwood Forests (Wood et al. 2013) and Enhancing Cerulean Warbler Habitat in the Appalachians: A Guide for Foresters (AMJV n.d.) . • The Wood Thrush is on the Partners in Flight (PIF) Yellow Watch List and is a Road to Recovery (R2R) Tipping Point species. It requires large tracts of intermediate to mature aged forests with mostly closed canopy for nesting but also requires early seral forest for the post-fledging phase. It is highly vulnerable to human land use and activities. Declines are linked to forest loss and fragmentation on both the breeding and wintering grounds. Wood Thrush nesting in more fragmented forested areas, such as in the Piedmont ecoregion, face higher rates of nest predation and Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism. • Red Crossbill and Southern Appalachian Black-capped Chickadee (also referred to as Black- capped Chickadee) inhabit the imperiled Spruce-Fir forests of western North Carolina. Red Crossbill’s nomadic habits make it difficult to monitor. The Black-capped Chickadee occurs in the Great Smoky Mountains and Plott Balsam Range and hybridizes with Carolina Chickadee in the Great Balsam Range. The logging boom of the 1880s–1930s reduced the southern Blue Ridge’s Spruce-Fir forests by half, and Balsam Woolly Adelgid subsequently caused extensive mortality of mature Fraser Fir forest. • Wayne’s Black-throated Green Warbler (or Wayne’s Warbler), first described in the early 20th century, breeds along the coastal regions of southern Virginia, North Carolina, and northern South Carolina. Throughout its limited North American range, Wayne’s Warbler is distributed along a narrow band of Atlantic White Cedar stands, cypress swamps, and non- riverine forested wetlands (Sprunt, Jr. 1953) and separated by more than 400 km and a 1200 m elevation difference from the Appalachian nominate race. In addition to differences in habitat use, Wayne’s Warbler is genetically distinct from (Carpenter et al. 2022) and smaller than Black-throated Green Warbler populations, especially in bill dimensions, including individuals from the same latitude (Morse et al. 2024) . The species’ presumed last population stronghold at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is predicted to suffer from substantial forest cover loss and fragmentation due to climate change (Ury et al. 2021, White, Jr. et al. 2022) . The Wayne’s Warbler is considered by the USFWS to be an at-risk species; it was petitioned for federal ESA protection in 2023 (status pending) (CBD 2023) . It is listed for state protection as an endangered species (WRC 2021) .
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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