Cerulean warblers, a declining migratory songbird, nest in mature, gappy deciduous forest, and management guidelines have been developed based on those nesting requirements. However, using radio-tracking of recent fledglings, a Northern Research Station scientist and his partners discovered that habitats selected by fledglings varied with age and often differed substantially from nesting habitat; younger, denser areas with abundant saplings were preferred. Conservation of this species must include maintaining these distinct fledgling habitats to be effective.

In birds, the period between young fledging from nests and their independence from parents remains poorly understood, despite being a critical time in the life cycle when most mortality occurs. Cerulean warblers (Setophaga cerulea), a migratory species of extremely high conservation concern, nest in mature deciduous forests; range-wide conservation efforts have focused on maintaining or creating quality nesting habitat. A Northern Research Station scientist and his partners used radio-tracking of cerulean fledglings to better understand habitat selection during the dependent post-fledging period. They found fledgling habitat selection to be dynamic, varying with fledgling age. Compared to nesting habitat, recent fledglings selected areas with greater sapling cover and less stand basal area. But as fledglings matured, they selected areas further from canopy gaps and with greater mid-story cover. Overall, fledglings used areas with smaller and more numerous trees, fewer canopy gaps, and greater mid-story cover than found in nesting habitat. Based on these results, management focused solely on maintaining quality nesting habitat is likely to prove inadequate to recover the species. Rather, this research suggests forest management that creates heterogeneous landscapes, including both mature stands with numerous canopy gaps as well as younger stands with a dense mid-story, are needed to effectively conserve cerulean warblers.