The discussion on Marbled Murrelets has been very interesting. I note
that a variety of senses have been invoked to suggest how it is that the
fledglings make it to the ocean. I believe that no one has mentioned sound,
but Janet Hardin's post suggests that the young birds are following stream
corridors. Some may years ago (25-30?), the Auk carried an article
investigating how much navigational information would be available through
sound, on a path that was not very high. The conclusions were that one could
get an amazingly accurate map of the land below, in total darkness, by relying
on this sense. Perhaps these birds are listening to the streams and hearing
themselves to the coast.
Sorry that I can't provide the citation for the Auk article.

Terry Leverich
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Joseph T. Leverich
Dorchester, MA
Mailto:terryleverich at sprintmail.com
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