Killer Terns of the Columbia
Caspian terns—the Steven Seagals of gulls—are currently ranked “the single most significant (per capita) avian predator” on juvenile steelhead migrating from the Snake River basin and the upper Columbia. “Predation rate estimates based on PIT tag recoveries on Caspian tern colonies indicated that impacts were again highest on upper Columbia River steelhead smolts (14.9 percent depredated…