Colin Bibby (1948-2004) was the quintessential bird conservation biologist. Over his career, he served as lead scientist at two of the world’s largest bird conservation organizations, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and BirdLife International. His contributions encompassed detailed autecological studies of rare bird species such as the Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata (e.g. Bibby 1978) and Fuerteventura Stonechat Saxicola dacotiae (e.g. Bibby and Hill 1987), a sweeping synthesis of the techniques of bird conservation science (Bibby et al. 1992, 2000), and pioneering contributions in conservation planning such as the Endemic Bird Areas concept (ICBP 1992).