introduction - Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program

Forest SpecialistsAt risk in the region, at home in Northcentral PAInterior Forest Habitat SpeciesBlack and WhiteWarblerPhoto © AJ HandOvenbirdYellow-billed cuckooScarlet tanagerBlack-billed cuckooRequires 2,200 acres tosustain a viable population.(Poole & Gill 2002)Northern goshawkPhoto © AJ HandThis species will inhabitforests ranging in size fromsmall woodlots to large forestexpanses, but only breedssuccessfully in interior forestconditionsPhoto © AJ HandFisherPhoto © AJ Hand17% of North America’sScarlet Tanagers nest inPA, but the species isdeclining at a rate of 1% ayear in the state. Its habitatis mature hardwood andmixed deciduous forests.(Goodrich et al. 2003)Photo © AJ Hand11% of PA’s woodlandnesting birds —speciesincluding the black-billedcuckoo and the yellowbilled cuckoo— havedeclined significantlysince 1980. (USGS BBS)Species requiring large areas forindividual home-range territoriesBarred owlThe Northern goshawk depends on theavailability of large expanses of matureforest, because it has a large home rangeper pair, and its nesting habitat is largetrees in mature forest. It can bedetrimentally impacted by logging becauseit prefers dense canopy cover. (Natureserve2004)The fisher was recently re-introducedto northern PA, including theQuehanna Wild Area. A viablepopulation requires 75,000 acres offorest.MartenThe marten is an example of an animalextirpated from Pennsylvania that maysomeday re-establish a population innorthcentral PA’s extensive forest lands. Itrequires 30.000 acres to sustain a viablepopulation.22Photo © AJ HandThe barred owl depends upon mature forest for nestinghabitat (large trees, dead snags). It prefers a high degreeof canopy cover, and declines in fragmented forests.Individual pairs may have a home range of 250-1200 acres(NatureServe 2004). The area estimated to be necessaryto support a viable population is 17,000 acres (Anderson &Vickeray 2004).