Laybourne, Roxie C.

9/2/1910–8/7/2003
AMERICAN
ORNITHOLOGIST

Roxie C. Laybourne originated the science of forensic ornithology. Often called the "feather detective," Laybourne used feathers to identify bird-strike accidents in military and commercial aircraft, to solve crimes for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to identify feathers unearthed by archeologists, and to recognize species of endangered poached or illegally killed birds.

In 1960, a Lockheed aircraft took off from Boston Logan airport, then crashed into Boston Harbor after flying through a flock of birds. Sixty-two people died on the crash. Laybourne gathered bits of charred materials from the engine intake areas, and by examining them under a microscope, suggested the cause of the crash was clogging of one of the engines with birds she identified as starlings. As a result of her work, aircraft manufactures made modifications to the fan blades of their engines, the military strengthened the cockpits of their aircraft, and airports took measures to discourage potentially hazardous bird species from nesting near airports. Laybourne continued to investigate bird strikes to engines or cockpits of commercial, private, and military aircraft, and became the world's foremost authority in identifying bird species by the remains of their feathers.

Laybourne later applied her skills to solve a murder case in conjunction with the FBI. Even though the victim was murdered, then thrown off a cliff into the sea, Laybourne matched a tiny portion of a down feather recovered from the suspect's truck with the down contained in the victims jacket. In another case, Laybourne matched feathers found at a murder crime scene with those in a pillow used to silence the fatal gunshot. Laybourne also worked with United States customs agents to identify illegally imported bird species.

Laybourne was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and raised in a rural area of the state near the town of Farmville. As a child, she climbed trees to get a better look at birds, especially owls, and spent hours watching turkey vultures flying overhead and catching thermal air currents. Laybourne earned an undergraduate degree from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, followed with a master's degree in botany from George Washington University.

After graduation, Laybourne worked for the National Fisheries Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C., and the North Carolina State Museum. In 1944, Laybourne joined the Smithsonian Institution, where she worked for over 40 years in the bird division perfecting her system for identifying birds and overseeing the institute's collection of over 650,000 bird specimens. Laybourne died at the age of 92 at her farm in Manassas, Virginia.