In North Carolina, ceruleans are rare, local nesters in the mountains and along the Roanoke River. Bull's Gap, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Warrior Mountain, near Saluda, and Chimney Rock State Park are some of the areas in WNC where ceruleans nest. He notes an over 80 percent decline across the Southeast. Recent evidence suggests that events on breeding, stopover, and wintering grounds are implicated in this decline. Ruley said studies show that ceruleans need large, complete tracts of mature forests on breeding and wintering grounds.
Some anomalies appear to exist in current population trends.
The cerulean appears to be extending its range, particularly in the Northeast and somewhat in the South. Biologists believe that this is response to forest maturation and may represent more of a shift in range than an increase in overall population. Areas like WNC, where local populations have been steady for the past decade or so, seem to represent isolated pockets of good habitat, i.e. large tracts of mature forest. It is also pointed out that these are small populations, and though they appear to be stable, they are not increasing. Today the population is only a fraction of its original size.