René Corado (born 1960) is a Guatemalan-American

oologist Oology (; also oölogy) is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek ''oion'', meaning egg. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometimes called e ...

, biologist and writer.

Biography

Corado was born in a small village of El Chicał, Morazan, El Progreso,

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

among six siblings. In 1968, at age 8, Corado and his family moved to

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

. He attended school in the morning and to help his family survive, he shined shoes in the afternoon and asked for leftovers to feed his siblings. Some days he did not collect enough food and visited the dump to look for food for himself. In 1981, Corado emigrated to the United States. He went to Hollywood, where he started as a gardener for the Donald L. Bleitz Wildlife Foundation in 1982. Bleitz passed away in 1986 and requested that all study skins go to the

Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ) is a non-profit charitable organization based in Camarillo, California, focused on research and education on bird conservation. It hosts a natural history collection of over 200,000 sets of bird ...

, which became the largest egg and nest collection in the world, founded by Ed Harrison in 1956. Corado worked alongside Harrison, building his knowledge of

oology Oology (; also oölogy) is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, Bird nest, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek ''oion'', meaning egg. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometime ...

and collaborating on

ornithological Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

research. Corado graduated from high school in the U.S. He earned an associate degree from

Oxnard College Oxnard College is a public community college in Oxnard, California, United States. Established in 1975 by the Ventura County Community College District, it serves the Oxnard Plain cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, and Port Hueneme. Oxnard College of ...

in 2007. In 2001, Corado started a bird conservation project in Guatemala. By 2004, with the help of Linnea Hall and the support of Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology he created a campaign called the Guatemala River Project to work towards cleaning the heavily polluted

Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Riv ...

. He and Hall collaborated on publications such as
Egg & Nest
'' which emphasizes the diversity that can be found in bird eggs and nests. In 2014, his autobiographical book, ''El Lustrador (The Shoeshine Boy),'' was published in Guatemala. In 2016, he published his autobiographical book The Adventures of René Corado, The Shoeshine Boy, bilingual and illustrated. In September 2019, he was honored as Guatemalan Ambassador of Peace. On 11 November 2019 he was honored with the

Order of the Quetzal The Order of the Quetzal () is Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the so ...

. Established in 1936, it is bestowed by the Government of Guatemala. The award acknowledges officials of nations, organizations and other entities whose artistic, civic, humanitarian, or scientific works merit special recognition. The WFVZ has more than a million bird eggs, eighteen thousand bird nests and fifty six thousand study skins (of birds).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corado, René Living people American people of Guatemalan descent Guatemalan biologists Oologists Guatemalan writers 1960 births Oxnard College alumni