Status of Cerulean Warblers on the Shawnee National Forest
Join SIAS on Friday, Dec. 1st at 7:00 p.m., for this presentation by Kevin Sierzega, biologist with the IL Nature Preserves, and Mark Vukovich, wildlife biologist with the Shawnee National Forest, in the meeting room at Carbondale Township Hall*, 217 E. Main St. Carbondale
Although cerulean warblers are listed by numerous organizations as a species of conservation concern and are currently threatened in Illinois, there is limited information of their current distribution and population size in Illinois and on the Shawnee National Forest. The objectives are to update and check known records, map the distribution, and estimate the population size of the cerulean warbler on the Shawnee National Forest.
Based on known records, Kevin and Mark conducted playback transects
surveys along creeks and floodplains to elicit responses from males in the
summers of 2021-2023 and covered an estimated 4,212 acres. They documented
and mapped 106 singing male cerulean warblers with the largest concentration
located in the Cave Valley and Cedar Creek area of the Shawnee National Forest
in Jackson County. This presentation will discuss survey methods, cerulean
warbler distribution and population sizes, and known and future habitat analyses
and planned work and projects on the Shawnee National Forest.