Roxie Laybourne: Feather Detective
Roxie Laybourne peered into her microscope, examining the fluffy strands attached to a delicate spine. She considered all the clues before offering her conclusion: the feather came from a horned lark, a small pale-brown bird. For decades, Laybourne had worked deep in the heart of the Smithsonian Institution (an organization with multiple museums and research centers), identifying different types of birds by studying their feathers. Growing up at a time when few women worked as scientists and the idea of feather scientists was unknown, Laybourne became the world’s first bird detective. She used scientific techniques to study birds. The method of analysis that she developed, called “forensic ornithology,” is still used by bird detectives today.
When Laybourne was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1910, cars and airplanes were in their early stages of development. Laybourne’s father owned a business fixing cars. As a young girl, Laybourne enjoyed learning about the engines her father fixed and solving the puzzles of why they weren’t working. She also loved plants and birds. Often, she could be found wandering around in the forest, carrying an issue of the magazine Bird-Lore and studying the birds she found. Theseinterests would become key in her lifelong pursuits.
Laybourne attended college, where she studied math and science. To help support herself, she took a part-time job as a taxidermist at a museum in North Carolina. In this role, she learned how to preserve animal and bird specimens for study after they died. After college, she worked on her master’s degree until she received a fateful call in 1942. The Smithsonian Division of Birds asked her to come work as a museum aide.
Without hesitation, Laybourne took the job. She was responsible for preparing bird samples for research. She needed to be very careful because bird feathers and plumage could be damaged easily. For the next several years, Laybourne worked with bird specimens at the Smithsonian. As she did, she learned more and more about them, becoming able to identify countless types of birds.
As Laybourne worked, she noticed that there were very small differences in the feather structures of some birds that were closely related. This knowledge would serve her well in 1962, when she was called upon to complete an important, almost impossible, task. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needed Laybourne’s help. Large flocks of birds had flown into several airplanes, causing damage to the plane engines. The FAA wanted to know what kinds of birds were flying into the engines so that they could find a way to prevent future collisions. Could Laybourne identify them?
Laybourne carefully unpacked the feathers and found they were covered with engine oil and damaged by propeller blades. Carefully, Laybourne began washing them. She could not use too much soap or water—which would ruin the sample—but she had to use enough to get them clean. “I . . . knew how to wash and dry whole birds. But getting single feathers that had gone through aircraft—now that was a whole new ball game,” Laybourne said.
Laybourne first compared the new feather samples to previously identified feathers. She made sketches of what she saw under her microscope. Then she carried the sketches into her reference library, looking for something similar. She also followed clues that could help identify the bird type, including the time of year each accident happened, the plants near the airports, and the routes the airplanes took. After weeks of studying the feathers and other clues, Laybourne had an answer. The feathers belonged to a small bird called a European starling. Her findings helped the FAA create guidelines for the right altitude, or height, at which to fly planes to avoid collisions with birds.
Carla Dove is a bird scientist who learned from Roxie Laybourne. She describes how Laybourne felt about her new task: “She was just so dedicated, so devoted to studying feathers, and she got such joy out of it. It was like solving a puzzle to her.”
As a result of the successful investigation, Laybourne became known for her unique skills. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called upon her for her expertise. She also helped the U.S. Department of Agriculture identify birds to solve various problems. Of course, she continued to help the FAA. With more knowledge about birds, airport staff could make runways safer by mowing lawns or by changing the location of a pond to encourage certain species of birds to move to safer areas. Laybourne’s research even brought about new discoveries regarding how high some species of birds can fly.
Roxie Laybourne died in 2003, but her legacy lives on. Bird scientists continue to rely on her careful work to make the skies safer for both airplanes and birds.