He received in 1968 his B.A. from
Hope College in
Holland, Michigan and in 1972 his Ph.D. from
Oregon State University under
John A. Wiens with dissertation ''Singing behavior of the
Bewick's wren: development, dialects, population structure, and geographical variation''. Kroodsma was from 1972 to 1974 a postdoc and from 1974 to 1980 an assistant professor at
Rockefeller University. He was from 1980 to 1987 an associate professor and from 1987 to 2003 a full professor and is since 2004 a professor emeritus at the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research deals with vocal behavior in birds, including neural control, evolution, ontogeny, and ecology. He was an associate editor from 1996 to 2003 for the encyclopedia
Birds of North America and from 1998 to 2002 for the journal
The Auk. ==Awards and honors==