NavList:

Frank,

I applaud the teaching of celestial naviagation to members of the avian world, especially chickens.  As I recall, "chicken little" caused quite a panic when he errently concluded the sky was falling.  A foundation in celestial observations would have clearly prevented the uproar, as he could have easily proven that the key elements were still in their proper place. 

That said, as an aside, I do recall that birds perform amazing navigational feats.  The arctic tern I recall has the longest migration on earth, going from the far north to antarctic waters to take advantage of the long summer days.  One I believe was tracked by tagging a whopping 60,000 miles or so in one year. Amazing...to go all the way one way, then "tern" around, and "re-tern" back to the very same nesting spot for breeding season.  Never know where they will "tern up".

I recall they think they use the earths magnetic field....and I do wonder what other visual observations may be used, including celestial bodies.

 mc