By Ryan Davis & Rick Hutton, Pheasants Forever UNDERWING Habitat created for distressed cerulean warblers helps all wildlife. B EAUTIFULLY BLUE, but rarely seen, the cerulean warbler winters in South America and breeds during summer in the oak forests of eastern North America. The Appalachians are the stronghold for this striking bird. Eighty percent of cerulean warblers in the world nest in the mountain chain's large expanses of mature forest. But due to changes in forest structure and composition, cerulean warblers have experienced population declines of 70 FEBRUARY 2016 percent since 1966. No bird monitored in the North American Breeding Bird Survey has experienced a greater decline. Because of this population nosedive, management for this species has become a priority. Cerulean warblers are associated with mature hardwood stands where small gaps in the canopy occur due to high winds, weather events, or the death of older trees. They require a well-developed understory to provide sufficient insect popula19