The son of Yale University ornithologist Fred Sibley, David Sibley began birding in childhood.[1] Sibley got his start as a birdwatcher in Cape May Point, New Jersey in 1980, after dropping out of college.[2] A largely self-taught bird illustrator, he was inspired to pursue creating his own illustrated field guide after leading tours in the 1980s and 1990s and finding that existing field guides did not generally illustrate or describe alternate or juvenile plumages of birds. He cites European wildlife artist Lars Jonsson as a great influence on his own work.[3] In 2002, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association for lifetime achievement in promoting the cause of birding.[4] In 2006, he was awarded the Linnaean Society of New York's Eisenmann Medal.
Sibley is married, with two sons, and currently lives in Concord, Massachusetts.[1] He is not known to be related to ornithologist Charles Sibley, although his father studied under and worked for Charles at Yale. Charles' genealogical research found that he and David could be no closer than fourth cousins.
^Lemongello, Steven. "Professional birder, author, got start in Cape May Point", The Press of Atlantic City, October 24, 2009. Accessed September 12, 2019. "Like a migrating bird returning to its nesting grounds, noted birding guide author David Allen Sibley has returned to the town where he first learned about birdwatching.... The writer, now based out of Concord, Mass., first came to Cape May Point in the fall of 1980, 'when I essentially dropped out of college to go birdwatching full time.'"
