Mark Conboy is a Canadian ornithologist and naturalist working at the Long Point Bird Observatory in southern Ontario. Mark began doing nature interpretation as a teenager, learning from some of the most talented presenters in the Ontario Parks system. His experience as a young naturalist at Presqu'ile Provincial Park transformed his early passion for birds into a broad appreciation of the natural world. Beyond birds you can find mark obsessing over orchids, snorkelling on tropical reefs, admiring ancient trees, and traveling on foot or by bicycle into remote and wild places all over the world. Birds however do remain his first and primary interest.
Over the past 15 years of he has worked as a biologist in academia, industry and with NGO’s, including managing some of Canada's most important biology stations, namely the Long Point Bird Observatory (the oldest bird observatory in the western hemisphere) and Queen’s University Biological Station (one Canada’s largest research stations). At Long Point Mark personally banded over 20,000 birds and supervised the banding of many thousands more as he trained upwards of 200 aspiring ornithologists. He is also a certified Trainer with the North American Banding Council, and has led certification sessions in Canada and Belize. Mark travels widely in search of wild places and charismatic wildlife; in 2018 alone he traveled to Argentina, Belize, Chile, the Falkland Islands, and the United States. He currently works as a freelance field biologist and has now begun to lead international birding tours. He has guided for Eagle-Eye Tours in Newfoundland and Australia.
Mark believes that a deep understanding of natural history is needed to truly appreciate organisms and the ecosystems they inhabit. He is a master of weaving tales of old-time naturalists, quirky biological facts, and complex ideas in ecology and evolution into entertaining and readily accessible stories right in the field, while observing the very creatures he speaks about.
