[dunlin]

Originally Posted by Picidae

This is so indeed. Some species the sense of smell is little developed but in others, notably procellariformes such as Fulmar, the shearwaters and petrels, all have a very highly developed sense of smell. They are primarily palegic spending most of their lives at Sea so their sense of smell helps them to find food. They have exterior tubular nostrils which lie on the surface of the upper mandible hence known as 'tubenoses'. Also the tubenose helps to excrete salt from stomach, and in the case of Fulmar, to eject contents of oil from stomach (youngsters do this as a defence).

Just to pick up on what picidae has said here is an interesting article on albatross feeding habits
Wandering Albatross Forages Using Sense of Smell: GPS Tracking Indicates Scent Markers Important to Open Ocean Feeding | Suite101.com
regards mark........