Those species that commonly breed in cooler, more northerly, mainly coniferous forests, such as Blue-headed Vireo, Winter Wren, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler,
Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, and Purple Finch, were found in pine plantations, mixed pine-deciduous woods, and the hemlock-deciduous forests in the gorges and ravines of the Pierson Creek and Stebbins Run watersheds.
Four species (bay-breasted warbier,
blackburnian warbler, black-throated green warbler and golden-crowned kinglet) were significantly less abundant in tributary buffer strips than in tributary references; black-and-white warbler was significantly more abundant in tributary buffers than in tributary references (Table 3; F = 11.5; df = 1,16; P = 0.004).
Like bright jewels flitting about from tree limb to tree limb, yellow-rumped, black-throated blue, orange
blackburnian warblers and American redstarts add their colors to the palette of the woods.
Preliminary surveys suggest conifer-dwelling birds--including breathtaking
Blackburnian warblers and tiny winter wrens--have all but disappeared, replaced by robins and goldfinches.
Some of the birds that stick to old-growth forests include black-throated blue warblers,
Blackburnian warblers, and the solitary vireo.
Several neotropical songbirds--black-throated green warblers,
blackburnian warblers, Canada warblers, and blue-throated (solitary) vireos--use hemlock stands largely or exclusively.
For example, the same large spruce tree can be home to several species of warblers: magnolia warblers will nest near the ground; black-throated green warblers will inhabit the central part of the canopy; and
blackburnian warblers will nest in the very top branches.
Similarly, among forest nesting birds,
Blackburnian warblers (Dendroica fusca) and northern parulas (Parula americana) occupy mature coniferous forests (Graber and Graber 1951; Peterjohn 1989), whereas cerulean warblers and scarlet tanagers (Piranga olivacea) require extensive tracts of mature hardwood forest with tall trees for nesting (Robbins and others 1992; DeGraaf and Rappole 1995).
