The Blackburnian Warbler is one of the birds that ignites a passion in Christian Cooper, who appears to be the man of the hour as the host of a new Natural Geographic television series about birding and the author of a new best-selling book that features Cooper’s birding adventures and interests (photo by Kojo Baidoo). Photo courtesy of the Walt Disney Company.

“My Dad gave me a pair of binoculars when I was 10 years old, and I haven’t put them down since” is the way that Christian Cooper, the cheery host of National Geographic’s new cable television show, Extraordinary Birder, opens each episode. As Cooper’s new book, Better Living Through Birding, hit the New York Times best-selling book list, the Cornell Lab’s associate Pareesay Afzal, interviewed “the extraordinary birder” about the universal appeal of birding, which includes Cooper’s list of the “7 Pleasures of Birding.”

Moving from one birding hotspot to the next, he explores birding destinations like Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and his home turf in New York City. At each location Cooper goes birding with local experts, visits conservation projects, and shares his enthusiasm for the unique birds he finds along the way.

In addition, Christian Cooper’s newly released book, Better Living Through Birding, is already a New York Times best-seller in which he describes his lifelong interest in birds and birding as a Black gay man who worked as a writer and editor at Marvel Comics while birds and birding provided vivid and life-changing birding experiences. Cooper is also a Cornell Lab administrative board member and is on the NYC Audubon board of directors, who nonetheless finds ample time for birding.

Recently, All About Birds contributor Pareesay Afzal, interviewed “the extraordinary birder” to talk about the universal appeal of birding. Central to the interview is Cooper’s “7 Pleasures of Birding:” 1) The beauty of the birds, 2) the joy of being in nature, 3) the pleasure of discovery, 4) the joy of collecting (listing or photographing), 5) the pleasures of searching, 6) the joy of solving puzzles, and 7) the “Unicorn Effect; you know there’s a certain bird out there because you’ve seen pictures of it, read about it in books, seen it in a field guide, and one day you’re out there – and suddenly there it is in real life, as if a mythological creature has come to life.

Another of the many insightful messages Cooper shares in the interview is: “I see it as my job to translate messages. The title, Extraordinary Birder, doesn’t refer to me; it refers to all the amazing people who we meet in the show, the contributors who may be birders or ornithologists or just dedicated individuals who have spent time trying to save birds. They are the extraordinary birders and they have a wealth of knowledge. It’s my job to take that knowledge and bring it to an audience, and bring it in a way people can understand, appreciate, and absorb it.”

To read the full interview provided on the All About Birds webpage from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, see Q&A: Catching Up with Christian Cooper, Host of "Extraordinary Birder" | All About Birds All About Birds

We feature a description of Christian Cooper’s new book, Better Living Through Birding, in this week’s Products section of The Birding Wire (also see Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World)

And to learn more about Cooper’s television program, produced by National Geographic, see Watch Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper TV Show - Streaming Online | Nat Geo TV (nationalgeographic.com)