Marky Mutchler

I am a 25-year-old birder, who has spent the last 20 years of my life shaping my ornithological interests into a career. While having been an avid birder since the age of ~4, since being named Young Birder of the Year in 2015, I have really spent the last decade using my interests and passions as a force to both build my career and help others discover their own paths. I completed my bachelor’s degree at Louisiana State University, where I worked at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. Now, my current research interests broadly revolve around neotropical ornithology, with a particular interest in the evolutionary relationships of Amazonian and Mexican bird systems.

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I currently live in Chicago, Illinois, where I have started my PhD at the University of Chicago. I am coming to Chicago from Los Angeles, California, where I was an NSF-funded researcher at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology, where I was able to combine my skills as an ornithologist, illustrator, and communicator into collaborative and publishable work. 

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In addition to birding and research, I also enjoy art, cars, and photography- and regularly share my work on Instagram (@aplomado1 & @aploart).