Home Sweet Home? How NPCA is Helping Migrating Birds Return to the Appalachians

Steve is a conservation biologist in NPCA’s Southeast Regional Office (SERO). He is looking for cerulean warblers, a stunning sky-blue migratory bird in trouble. Cerulean warblers have faced a staggering 74% decline in the Appalachian Forest region. As neotropical migratory birds, they migrate 3,100 miles between their breeding grounds in North America and wintering grounds in South America. Throughout their arduous journeys, migrating birds face multiple threats due to habitat loss and climate change impacting their breeding grounds, stopover habitats, and wintering grounds.

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Cerulean warbler

Learn about the Cerulean warbler’s range and migration paths.

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In fact, birds as a whole are in trouble. Since 1970, a staggering 3 billion birds have disappeared in North America, which represents about 30% of wild birds. Neotropical migrants have been particularly hard hit, representing 2.5 billion of the 3 billion birds lost. As climate change continues, understanding where birds spend time across their life history, the threats they face, and how their ranges may change will help us find and protect safe havens for migrating birds.

Parks are often safe havens for migrating birds during their long journeys. National parks act as crucial refuges by providing protected and well-managed habitats, minimizing human disturbances, and contributing to scientific research and education. By supporting the survival of migrating birds, parks contribute to the conservation of global avian biodiversity. However, bird ranges don’t stop at the boundaries of parks. To effectively help birds recover and improve their resilience against climate change, we also need expanded protection and management of land adjacent to parks.
NPCA’s SERO team has been doing just that by supporting the designation of Craggy Wilderness and National Scenic Area (NSA) in North Carolina. Across the Appalachians, private lands once buffering protected forests are becoming increasingly fragmented by roads and human development. The designation would permanently protect 16,000 acres that include enchanting old-growth forests, pristine watersheds, world-class trails, and stunning panoramas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to Southern Environmental Law Center and Friends of ig Ivy, more than 80% of the proposed scenic area is visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway, adding viewshed preservation alongside biodiversity protection.

SERO is assisting local partners in building momentum towards nationally designating Craggy Wilderness through the lens of bird conservation. Birds can help us understand the significance of old-growth forests not only for the protection and climate resiliency of birds, but also other taxa such as mammals, salamanders, insects, and mosses and lichens. Because birds serve as an indicator species of an ecosystem, the more we know about where birds are and where they go, we can make the case for the protection of Craggy Wilderness.

In 2023, Steve and other conservation partners conducted their first pilot survey to fill in knowledge gaps on bird communities and habitats specific to Craggy Wilderness. NPCA is playing a supporting science role to empower partners who have laid the foundation for conservation work in this area including the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Big Ivy, Defenders of Wildlife, MountainTrue, Southern Environmental Law Center, and other local organizations. Steve conducted walking surveys through three areas in the proposed boundaries listening and recording all birds present within some of the last remaining stands of old-growth forest. He also installed audio recorders at three locations and analyzed the bird songs using Cornell’s BirdNET Sound ID. The results from pilot work documented 48 species, including many of conservation concern.

In 2024, Steve’s and partners’ research will significantly expand into new areas of Craggy, and in subsequent years continue into other public lands adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee. The study will also provide a more detailed picture of other neotropical birds experiencing significant population declines such as Canada warblers and black-billed cuckoos. Most of this work will occur within the last remaining patches of old-growth forests and maturing second-growth forests.

Steve’s efforts serve as a testament to the role organizations like NPCA can play in forging partnerships and seamlessly integrating science to champion conservation. Beyond the realm of migratory birds, the bird surveys support the designation of Craggy Wilderness and National Scenic Area, support the establishment of President Biden’s Old Growth Rule, and address critical knowledge gaps in USFS forest management plans. Ultimately, we can ensure a sustainable future for birds.

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Snapshots in the field:

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Steve Goodman and Olivia Porter,SERO’s Southern Appalachian Landscape Project Director, conducting field work near the Coxcomb Mountain study area in
Craggy Wilderness.

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Old-growth trees such as this sugar maple develop large, twisting upper
branches, grooved bark with unique chemistries, and diverse moisture
and minerals that provide habitat and food for many plants and animals.

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Old-growth forests have large, old trees with multilayered canopies. There are more gaps in the canopy to let sunlight through, creating more diverse plant and animal life.

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A dried stream near Snowball Mountain in Craggy Wilderness. The area has pristine watersheds and trout streams that support clean water and recreation activities.