The Pelican-- Extraordinary Birder

By Patty Moen

Looking for something new to watch? Try “Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper.“ Join Cooper as he explores the birds of the world– from Puffins in Alaska and Parrots in Puerto Rico to Eurasian Eagle Owls. He travels the globe and talks to experts that study amazing birds in their natural habitats.

Christian Cooper became the most famous birder in America, “which [according to himself] is not hard because who the hell knows who birders are in the first place?” Cooper gained national attention in 2020 when he asked a white woman to leash her dog in a protected wildlife area in Central Park and she called the cops on him. It’s an incident that he personally moved on from minutes later. He says that “maybe it’s just being Black in America, but you develop a fairly thick skin.” 

Cooper was in Central Park that day birding. It’s a lifelong passion that the NYC Audubon board member is now able to share with the world as the host of his own National Geographic series, Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, on National Geographic Wild and Disney+.
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National Geographic’s Janet Han Vissering called Cooper saying she wanted to do a birding show and wanted him to do it. The resulting six-episode Nat Geo series follows Cooper to six areas of the U.S., including Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Palm Springs. He hopes the show helps inspire people to come together to preserve birds and their habitats.
Cooper is also the author of a new memoir Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World (1).

​Sources: 
1. ​The Hollywood Reporter June 6, 2023