Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

Working on the unairconditioned seventh floor of the Natural History museum at the University of Kansas, Mark Robbins sits crammed away in the back corner of a stuffy, poorly lit room full of six-foot high filing cabinets containing bird specimens, listening to recordings of bird vocalizations from his most recent ornithological field trip.

Though his work as a bird expert has brought him national recognition from scientists and amateur bird watchers alike, Robbins has always remained humble, stressing how much he enjoys his work.

“The fame is very minimal in this field, and the pay is absurd,” he says. “I do this for a love of birds and natural history.”

Robbins has been at the center of a key ornithological debate for months now. He was consulted in several national stories about the existence of a bird thought to be extinct. Through it all, Robbins carries out his duties with a quiet dignity because he enjoys natural history and the study of birds so much. He’s never wanted to do anything but study animals—except maybe tour with rock legend Neil Young.

The debate over the bird’s extinction began in April 2004 when a research team exploring the swampy forests of southeast Arkansas documented what they thought to be an ivory-billed woodpecker. The crew scribbled down drawings and even captured it on video tape in a grainy four second clip as it flew away. The last hard evidence of the bird’s existence came more than 60 years ago and since then it was thought to be extinct. That is, until all this new evidence came into play.

A pileated woodpecker specimen at the Natural History Museum at KU. The ivory-billed woodpecker is said to look much like the pileated woodpecker. Robbins thinks a bird like this specimen is probably what researchers in Arkansas saw.

Robbins led the argument against the bird’s existence. He claims that the video is not conclusive enough. He says that there is no way to irrefutably prove that the bird pictured is not a pileated woodpecker, a slightly smaller, relatively common bird.

“There is nowhere in the United States where you could house a population of ivory-billed woodpeckers,” he says. “It’s almost science fiction to think there would be ivory-billed woodpeckers around today.”

He says that because this group is claiming that the ivory-billed woodpecker still exists in remote parts of Arkansas, the federal government is now diverting millions of dollars away from protecting other endangered species to help protect this supposed bird. That’s a lot of money to be throwing around on something as questionable as this evidence, which is why he cares so much about the debate.

“The bird is kind of minor compared to the human dynamics on both sides of the debate,” he says.

Robbins says he has always had a fascination with natural history and nature. Although it has taken him years to learn so much about birds, it was his fascination with nature in general that helped him become such an authority on ornithology.

“My first love was actually reptiles,” he says. “Even though I’m an ornithologist, I’m into the outdoors as a whole.”

Above all his favorite part about being an ornithologist is being out in the field exploring nature. As a kid he loved to run around and play in the wilderness, often picking up and bringing home all kinds of snakes, frogs and bugs. He was about 13-years-old when he first started noticing birds around his neighborhood. He then became actively involved in bird watching from then on he wanted to learn all there was to know about birds.

Some might argue that he has come pretty close. It didn’t come easily though. It took years of experience and research, beginning around age 13.

“I was exposed to a college atmosphere when I was growing up,” he says.

At 13 he went on an ornithology trip with a college class from Northwest Missouri State University, which is located in his hometown of Maryville, Mo. He became close with a professor there and spent a great deal of time in his office studying birds. He also began taking trips to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri and exploring on trails.

His time spent in national parks and the wilderness has not diminished much since college, he says. He still likes to spend time outdoors with his wife Kathy and his 14-year-old son, Stephen.

“We go canoeing and camping whenever we can,” Kathy Robbins says.

For the most part, though, his family tries to keep out of the bird business. Of course they support him in his endeavors, but he says they are not particularly interested in birds.

“Obviously they’re not into birds as much as I am,” Robbins says. “They do show interest in issues like the ivory-billed woodpecker debate though because they know how important it is.”

Arpad Nyari, a PhD grad student being mentored by Robbins, is one person who does share his interest in birds. The two have gotten close while studying birds together and conducting fieldwork.

“Even though he spends a lot of time inside in the museum curating the collection, he really loves the outdoors,” Nyari says. “He got into this for the fieldwork.”

Mark Robbins, second from left in the back row, takes a break from fieldwork in Mexico to pose for a picture. Robbins spent his spring break in 1978 touring the Mexican wilderness with villagers collecting never before documented specimen.

Robbins spends about two and a half months of the year doing fieldwork, often times out of the country. His travels have taken him all over the globe, including several trips to China, Meixco and Ecuador. He has discovered four new species of birds and has written dozens of peer reviewed journal articles, including several about the ivory-billed woodpecker. He has also compiled over 3,000 recordings of bird vocalizations for study, which are stored in a laboratory at Cornell University. He is able to tell the difference between specific types of birds just by listening to the noises they make. He says this is key to recognizing birds in the wild because a lot of times he can’t even see the bird he is studying.

“He can tell slight differences among species just from a noise,” Nyari says. “He’s definitely obsessed.”

An exibit at the Natural History Museum at KU featuring several birds that are now extinct.

As the debate over the existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker rages on, Robbins points to a philosophy he thinks is important—extinction means forever. Through the use of vocalizations he hopes to prove that extinction does indeed mean forever for the ivory-billed woodpecker. But in the mean time, he just enjoys being out in nature chasing an elusive possibility.