Documented avian life around the world

There were many days when Chandler Robbins rose before the sun to partake of the dawn chorus — the gentle coo of the mourning dove, the dulcet strain of the American robin, the fluting of the wood thrush, all heralding the arrival of morning.

Among fellow birdwatchers, Robbins, who died March 20 at 98, was revered as a father of modern ornithology. He was the principal author of “Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification,” a bible for millions of enthusiasts who spend their happiest hours scanning the skies for winged creatures.

Robbins documented avian life around the world, including on the Pacific island of Midway, where in 1956 he tagged a young Laysan albatross who came to be known as Wisdom. She is the oldest known wild bird, a matriarch who laid an egg as recently as December.

But for more than six decades, he worked primarily in the environs of Washington, as an ornithologist at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Md. In the 1950s, he documented the damage wrought by the pesticide DDT, including its thinning effect on osprey and eagle eggshells. Rachel Carson, a colleague at the time, relied on his research for her 1962 environmental manifesto “Silent Spring.”

An early champion of citizen science, Robbins founded the North American Breeding Bird Survey, an initiative that has grown since its founding in 1965 to involve thousands of volunteer birders in an annual effort of exacting rigor to measure the continental bird population. It is one of the two most significant avian monitoring programs of its kind. Robbins participated in the other, the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, for more than 80 years, said its director, Geoff LeBaron.

“It is not an exaggeration at all to call him one of the giants of 20th century ornithology and bird conservation,” John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., said in an interview. . Robbins received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University in 1940 and a master’s degree in zoology from George Washington University a decade later.

He declared himself a conscientious objector during World War II and joined the Civilian Public Service, work that eventually brought him to the Patuxent Research Refuge. After retiring in 2005, he continued field research until shortly before his death.

His wife of six decades, the former Eleanor Cooley, died in 2008. Survivors include four children, Jane Robbins and Nancy Robbins, both of Beltsville, Md., Stuart Robbins of Laurel, and George Robbins of Pittsfield, N. H.; two grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Robbins was credited with tagging more than 115,000 birds, but named his favorite as the house wren.

THE WASHINGTON POST FILE After retiring in 2005, Chandler Robbins continued field research until shortly before his death.