Aleutian terns are a rare and little studied seabird species that nests semi-colonially in remote areas of coastal Alaska and the Russian Far East; available evidence suggests that Alaskan populations are in a serious decline, but more research is needed. We propose to use “social attraction” - decoys and playback of calls - to get Aleutian terns to temporarily roost a short distance away from a colony, so that they can be captured for a variety of studies without disturbing them at their nests.