BHAS Program via ZOOM Thursday, February 10th 7 PM

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Roby, Oregon State University

Registration Required

The largest breeding colonies of Caspian Terns and Double-crested Cormorants anywhere in the world were on East Sand Island just inside the mouth of the Columbia River during the first decade of this century. This would have been nothing more than a conservation success story, but it was discovered that birds from these two colonies were consuming millions of young salmon and steelhead annually and thereby limiting the recovery of several threatened fish populations. Fisheries managers successfully pushed for management of both terns and cormorants in the Columbia River estuary to reduce losses of salmon and steelhead to bird predation as they entered the ocean. In this presentation we will learn what management was implemented and the outcomes from that management, both for the birds and for their salmon prey.

Dan Roby recently retired as Unit Leader–Wildlife for the US Geological Survey-Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University. He received graduate degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.Sc. in Wildlife Management) and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in Biology). His primary area of research interest is the physiological ecology, foraging ecology, and conservation biology of birds, with an emphasis on seabirds. During his career, Dan served as major advisor for 40 graduate students, which he rates as his most significant professional accomplishment.

Photo: Caspian Terns, by Mick Thompson

Register Here