Swainson’s warbler — a secretive, rarely seen songbird that nests in the swamplands of the southeastern United States — may no longer be so hard to find.

Researchers report that the bird has found a new safe haven: private pine plantations.

“I found hundreds of warblers breeding in pine plantations across 10 states,” said Gary Graves, an ecologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, who led the study. “These warblers are encountering a new ecosystem — a man-created ecosystem.”

The study, which appears in the journal Bird Conservation International, suggests that by the end of the century a majority of Swainson’s warblers will breed on pine plantations.

The birds arrive in the Southeast in April, nesting and breeding in swampy regions until it is time to fly south again in September. They like dense thickets, which can be found not just in swamps but among young pine trees, Dr. Graves said.