Richard Rowlett writes:

>Fascinating reply Roger. Thanks! Do you have a sense for what happens during
>the fledging process of the Marbled Murrelet?

[snip -- interesting bit about Hutton's Shearwater. Thanks!]

The answer to your question, as far as we know it, is that yes -- they do
the seemingly impossible and fly directly to the nearest saltwater from the
nest. Back in 1990 WDFW monitored a nest and put a radio transmitter on a
chick which 99% confirmed the theory that they flight directly and alone to
saltwater. Since then observations at other nests all along the Pacific
coast tend to confirm that fledging scenario. Chicks usually fledge at
dusk. They do a lot of wing-flapping and exercise on the nest, and that's
about their only prior experience of "flight" in any form. They can't jump
as you describe for other alcids (notably murres) -- it's too far to the
water. It's a truly strange strategy, and indeed leads to the occasional
grounded murrelet which didn't make it all the way. Sometimes the chick
falls out of the nest even before fledging, which I have personally
suspected was due in part to its getting carried away with its bopping
around, "exercising" -- resulting in a big "OOPs! Guess I stepped too
faarrrr..!" One grounded chick in Oregon was taken to a rehab facility
which wasn't well-fenced; ultimately the chick was reported to have
squeezed through the fence and when last seen was making a flying beeline
to the ocean. Now just how on earth did that little guy know where to go -
first of all, from his nest, second of all from a different, totally
foreign location??!

There are probably other stories to be told; I haven't helped monitor a
murrelet *nest* since 1992, and a lot more work has been done since. The
literature is out there, but much of the work has been kept reasonably
quiet while in progress, out of concern for the fate of birds at active
nests -- as well as for the trees around them.

Hope this helps fill in some gaps.

Cheers,

Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net