Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica vanrossemi) are a mid-size tern that breed in only two places in the US,  the Salton Sea and San Diego National Wildlife Refuge. What makes Gull-billed Terns so interesting to study is that in addition to concerns about their own population status -they have both federal and state conservation status as a result of population declines, habitat loss and habitat degradation -  Gull-bills prey on two other threatened and endangered species, the California Least Tern (Sternula antillarum browni) and the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus). This presents a challenging situation for land managers in San Diego. How can we support recovery of California Least Terns and Western Snowy Plovers but not worsen the population status of Gull-bills?

Kate Goodenough has been spearheading a project to find out more about Gull-bills, where they foraging, what they eat and how large a part of their diet are other terns and plovers? Using telemetry and stable isotopes, Kate's been leading the Gull-bill tern research in providing some of the first local and long-range tracking data on this species.

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