Waldo Lee McAtee was born on January 21, 1883 in Jalapa, Indiana. McAtee was a student at Indiana University from 1900-1906, majoring in Biology and Zoology, earning his A.B. in 1904 and A.M. in 1906. As a student, McAtee was active in his studies and was even the curator for the I.U. Zoological Museum, where his duties included classifying specimens. Also, when professors were absent, he was often called upon to teach science classes such as Embryology. During his studies, he took a summer to work in Washington, D.C., rearranging a collection of North American and Mexican bird specimens. This summer job introduced McAtee to members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who offered him a position while he was still an undergraduate.

Aside from academics McAtee was also a very active participant in I.U. athletic events, particularly football games, as a yell leader over a group called the "Howling Hundred", where he rallied students to attend games and even wrote fight songs to taunt the opposing team. He would remain a devoted Hoosier fan throughout his life.

Upon graduation, McAtee joined the Bureau of Biological Survey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he worked for over 30 years studying birds and their feeding habits. He helped develop the Division of Food Habits Research within the Biological Survey and served as its first director. Along with this duty he served as the editor of the technical publications of the Biological Survey team. In 1935, McAtee created an abstracting service for scientific publications which was called Wildlife Review, for which he served as editor for 12 years from 1935-1947. He edited all the publications of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of Interior, the agency that succeeded the Biological Survey, during World War II.

McAtee was instrumental in the creation of The Wildlife Society, a scientific and educational association based in Washington, D.C., that is dedicated to the promotion of wildlife management. He also played a role in the establishment of the Journal of Wildlife Management, serving as its first editor. McAtee was active in the American Ornithologists' Union where he served as treasurer for many years. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. McAtee served as a technical advisor on the Scientific Consulting Board for Nature Magazine, a publication of the American Nature Association.

Throughout this time, McAtee was the author of over 1000 papers on topics from ornithology to botany, writing approximately 750 publications concerning the food of birds. He even wrote a book on the natural history of Washington, D.C. His work helped him gain world wide acclaim as a biologist and ornithologist. His research was also influential in helping to establish many of the nation's bird protection laws.

Honors and awards followed Waldo McAtee throughout his career. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Interior for his scientific accomplishments. In 1938 he was named as 1 of 130 zoologists to be "starred" in the magazine American Men of Science, having been voted by his colleagues as an outstanding scientist in his field. In addition, McAtee was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union. In June of 1961, McAtee received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from his alma mater, Indiana University.

Waldo McAtee was more than just a biologist. He also had many interests in folklore and poetry. He researched folk speech and folk remedies of the settlers of Indiana, also known as "Hoosiers," and published some papers on his research. In addition he published a collection of his poetry in a pamphlet entitled "Verses"; one verse entitled "To the Arbutus" was requested for an I.U. songbook in the 1920's.

Waldo Lee McAtee retired in 1947 and lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina until he passed away from stomach cancer on January 7, 1962, at the age of 78.