Glendy Vanderah

I grew up in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of two public school teachers. A born naturalist trapped in a big city, I studied every creature of my parents’ tiny, wild-grown backyard. Reading, especially animal stories, was an equal passion that led to my love of writing. Realizing a childhood dream, I left the city to major in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution at the University of Illinois in Urbana. In field biology courses, I discovered my compulsion to catch snakes and salamanders wasn’t as weird as I’d thought. During one of those classes, my first wobbly view of a vivid blue Indigo Bunting through binoculars was the moment I decided to focus on avian biology.