homeabout the artistsaleswhats newcontact
biographybooks illustrated


Birding in Ecuador



With Rosellas in Australia



Dana Gardner was born in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin in 1950. He grew up in the small village of Lanesboro in Southeastern Minnesota. A rural upbringing led to a deep life-long interest in nature, and especially birds.

After graduation from the University of Minnesota in 1972, he was introduced to the tropics while serving in the army in the Panama Canal Zone. While in Panama, he met the renowned ornithologist, Alexander Skutch, with whom he worked for the next 28 years. After his military stint, he worked as an illustrator for the biology department at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, followed by a couple of years of working in Costa Rica.

A part time position with the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in California from 1979 - 1994 allowed him freedom to continue traveling and workiing in foreign countries. During this period he spent 3 years in Malaysia and Thailand, and continued working in the Neotropics as well.

He now makes his home in Berkeley, California.


Dana Gardner,
Pamela, and Alexander Skutch (1979)



Looking for the Kokako,
New Zealand 2000

© 2020 Dana Gardner
Site Design by Louis Libert