Hailing from eastern Iowa and growing up on his family's restored tallgrass prairie, Bobby Wilcox has always been an avid nature-lover and conservationist. With a degree in geology and no interest in oil drilling, he embarked upon a string of mini careers bartending, fishmongering, small-scale organic farming, building mud houses and working in yarn stores. Bobby finally got the opportunity to pursue his dream job when he was hired as a seasonal field technician by Great Basin Bird Observatory to survey riparian songbirds along the Colorado River in western Arizona. He has been an itinerant birding nomad ever since, banding birds in California, Canada and American Samoa, studying cavity-nesters in northern Argentina, surveying vulnerable populations of sagebrush birds in Nevada's Great Basin, and monitoring critically endangered Hooded Grebes in the windswept Patagonian steppe.

• Read more on Robert Wilcox

  Bobby has worked as a resident guide at two of the premiere birding lodges in Brazil; REGUA in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, and Cristalino Jungle Lodge in the southern Amazon. He has extensive experience birding throughout North America and much of the Neotropics and his desire to continue exploring the world in search of birds and other wildlife is limitless.

• Testimonials Robert Wilcox

  LB, Cuba 2023

  Overall, the birding aspect of the tour was fabulous. Excellent guides all around. Local field guides (Elier, Nils, Mario, Oday) were all friendly, knowledgeable and well-connected with their local areas. Our coach driver, Enrique, was amazing - he was always professional and we were all so impressed with his ability to navigate the bus in the tightest little spaces. Our tour guide Mario was over the top helpful and knowledgeable about all things Cuba -- definitely a must for future Rockjumper tours. Marios consistently upbeat demeanor and ease of communication made him critical to the success of this trip. Bobby is a highly skilled birder and hard working. He did a great job of managing a sometimes difficult group that complained a lot about insignificant things. His post-trip eBird trip report and photos were phenomenal. The wide range of variation in regions, ecosystems, unique little places, locally-owned accommodations, friendly people, and ease of access to special birding areas made this trip memorable. We especially enjoyed the visit to a local familys backyard garden to see the Bee Hummingbird, as well as the birding and honey-tasting experience at the local farm near las Terrazas Biosphere Reserve.

  MF, Dominican Republic 2023

  This was my first international birding trip. Despite picking one of the harder places to bird, and a bad case of motion-sickness from the plane and car rides, I greatly enjoyed the experience. The Rockjumper and local guides were knowledgeable and friendly, the food was good, and when the birds showed themselves they were excellent. Our leader, Bobby, said we got some of the best views of some of the birds hes ever got. I would definitely travel with Bobby and Rockjumper again.

  KH, Puerto Rico 2023

  Julio, our local guide, was great. Drove, bucked luggage, knew great restaurants, and, most importantly, knew the birds, their calls, and their locations. Bobby Wilcox was also great, knew the birds and their calls and was able to get everyone on each bird. Great tour. Id do it again if there werent so many other places to go. Sarah Dell was great on the office end. Thanks. Ill be back. KEN

  NL, Dominican Republic 2023

  Bobby Wilcox was great as tour leader; always aware of the clients and on-target with the endemics we sought. Our local guide was so well spoken and full of history and cultural knowledge as well as keen on all the birds. He was a real plus for the tour.

  JK, Costa Rica

  Bobby Wilcox was a good guide. Calm and knowledgeable. The food and accommodation were both very good, Better than I expect.

  JT, Dominican Republic 2022

  Bobby Wilcox was excellent: attentive to all the guests, helping with camera issues, ensuring everyone saw the birds, and enhancing the group experience. The photos he just shared with us are fantastic! Our local DR guide was very knowledgeable about not only birds, but many other topics including history, politics, geology, Haiti, etc.

  GS & KS, Puerto Rico 2022

  Bobby Wilcox was an excellent leader. And the local guide, was excellent as well.

  MF, Dominican Republic 2022

  This was a super trip and Bobby Wilcox was an excellent guide as well as being a people person and very friendly. The local guides on this tour were also quite awesome. It seems that Rockjumper continues to provide superior guides (I have not had a bad one yet) as well as great local ones. I really enjoyed Bobby's company and would like to do another tour with him if the itinerary allows.

  JM, Dominican Republic 2022

  We had an excellent time on this tour. Even though I did not see every endemic, it fully met my hopes for the number of birds that I could reasonably expect. The rainy weather impacted our birding at times, but the leaders made some good decisions to adjust our plans in response and to maximize our chances of getting the birds. We really enjoyed birding with Bobby Wilcox. This may have been his first visit to the DR, but he was well prepared, has excellent field skills, a good sense of humor, worked hard to get us on the birds, and shared his knowledge and enthusiasm in general.

  JG & AS - Pantanal 2022

  We really appreciated our trip. Our Rockjumper guide, Bobby Wilcox, and the local guides were awesome; always on the lookout for new birds and other animals, even on the long drives. The organization was flawless, the lodges were great and perfectly located. Our triplist and lifers goals were exceeded! The group was great and always well controlled by Bobby. Very well done! Our long sighting of a female jaguar was certainly the peak of this trip !!!

  JW, Argentina 2022

  Bobby Wilcox was a very capable and congenial leader. Our group consisted of birders of all levels of expertise. Bobby did his very best to make certain everyone got the opportunities they needed to have a very positive experience.

  LG - Dominican Republic 2024

  Just a well organized and very professional tour in a country where some of the birding can be difficult both from access and the behavior of the birds, So glad I went and it should be a top priority for everyone.

  MI - Puerto Rico 2024

  Bobby and Julio were both great guides. They made sure that we got all the endemics and that everyone had a chance to see each bird.