Out and About with Christian Cooper

One of the wildest things about New York City is that you can wander into The Ramble—Central Park’s well-known cruising ground for gay men—and instead of landing yourself in a compromising position, you might just stumble upon a birder.

And not just any birder—the one who helped ignite a long-overdue conversation about racial profiling, the weaponization of whiteness, and the rise of the Karen epithet in the spring of 2020. Yes, I’m talking about the handsome Harvard alum Christian Cooper.

You probably know Christian from the viral video that changed the course of both their lives—his and Amy Cooper’s (and no, they’re not related)—when she called the police on him after he asked her to leash her dog in an area of Central Park where dogs are meant to be leashed. That same day—also caught on camera—George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, and together, the two incidents ignited global protests for racial justice and ushered in the second wave of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Half a decade has passed since then, but as I told Christian when we caught up for this interview, while that moment will always be part of his story, there’s so much more to who he is. So, instead, we talked about birds, books, and the beautiful intersections of queerness, activism, and the natural world.

Since the incident, Cooper has gone on to win a Daytime Emmy as host of the National Geographic series Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper and authored a New York Times bestselling memoir, Better Living Through Birding. But he's having another moment in the spotlight. His first children’s book, The Urban Owls, recently landed on Amazon’s Best Books of the Month list, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. From his favorite NYC haunts to why birding feels like liberation, here’s our conversation.

OT: First of all, where are you right now? Can you see or hear any birds?

CC: I’m in Palm Springs, California, where the tiny Costa’s Hummingbirds are buzzing around the feeder outside the window in a constant state of war.

OT: Let’s get this out of the way early—what’s your favorite bird and why? Or is that like asking a parent to pick a favorite child?

CC: Most people who know me would say that my favorite bird is the Blackburnian Warbler—smaller than a sparrow, very active, and the males have a fiery, Day-Glo orange throat. Nicknamed “the firethroat” for a reason!

OT: You’ve described birding as a kind of freedom, and on podcasts like The Bird Joy Podcast, you’ve spoken so eloquently about how healing it is. Can you share why birding feels like liberation to you—particularly for Black communities and other marginalized folks?

CC: Birds’ complete mastery of flight is the ultimate symbol of freedom. They spread their wings and can go anywhere, soaring through a realm without barriers, borders, or limits. For us African Americans, with a history of forced captivity, that’s a powerful symbol.

OT: In your New York Times profile, there’s a line that really stuck with me—you said, “I want the plants to hear it, too,” referring to how you play music on your rooftop garden. What’s on your current playlist these days, for both you and the plants?

CC: “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, to celebrate the warmer, sunnier days ahead.

OT: Your memoir, Better Living Through Birding, is such a compelling blend of personal storytelling and birding wisdom. While you’ve admitted you’re not typically a big memoir reader, having written one now, what advice would you give to someone attempting to write their own?

CC: Don’t feel bound to tell your story only chronologically. Use time, don’t let time use you!

OT: Your memoir delves into various facets of your life, including the Central Park incident in 2020. When you first sat down to write, what was the initial story or moment you knew had to be included in the book?

CC: That incident had to be included, but in its proper context. So, though it seems that the book starts with that incident, it’s a fakeout. That bit of misdirection not only adds suspense and surprise, but it relegates the incident to a less prominent place in the story of my life and puts the primacy where it belongs: on amazing birds and amazing birding experiences.

OT: Say you’re at an event, and you meet someone you want to impress. Which bird’s traits or behaviors do you bust out as your "party fact"?

CC: I think if I turned to bird facts at a party to try to impress someone, I’d be involuntarily celibate.

OT: You’ve spent time in places like Hawaii and Alabama filming Extraordinary Birder. Of all the locations you’ve visited for the show, where would you return to tomorrow if you could?

CC: Hawaii. Their native birds are vanishing at a terrifying rate, and not only do I want to see more of them before they’re gone, but I want to do whatever I can to bring more attention to their plight, so that we can save what we can.

OT: Quick-fire NYC favorites: Best slice of pizza? Go-to gay bar? Favorite green space (other than Central Park)?

CC: Gruppo. The Eagle. Fort Tryon Park.

OT: For someone visiting New York for the first time with just a weekend, what’s one touristy spot you'd genuinely recommend—and one hidden gem they shouldn't miss?

CC: The American Museum of Natural History (dinosaurs! The blue whale! The planetarium! And so much more). Governors Island is a wonderful, quick escape from the hubbub of Manhattan and Brooklyn that many New Yorkers still haven’t discovered.

OT: Your latest book, The Urban Owls, marks your first foray into children’s literature. What inspired you to write a book for younger readers, and what do you hope kids take away from the story?

CC: I’ve worked with kids for decades, volunteering in the NYC public schools to get the students outdoors and engaged with the wild through birds, so a children’s book was a natural outgrowth from that. I hope The Urban Owls feeds a fascination with these unique birds, but also maybe helps them see some parallels with our own human condition.

OT: Birding seems so dependent on sound and sight – but are there other skills or traits you think people develop the more they spend time birding?

CC: Patience and focus. And a greater ability to give in to awe and joy.

OT: Since confirming you as a guest for this series, I swear I’ve been so much more aware of birdsong. I’m back home in Ireland at the moment, and the other day, I was sitting on the beach near my parents’ house—usually, I’d tune into the sound of the waves, but this time, it was the birds I noticed most. For someone like me, who’s only recently beginning to really appreciate birds and is curious about birding as a hobby, what advice would you give to beginners?

CC: However you find joy in observing wild birds, revel in it. Some people thrill to add a new bird to their life list; some people delight in watching the same birds come to the same feeder at the same window to watch the daily drama of bird behavior. Some people love it when they discover they’ve learned a new bird song; some people just want to see beautiful birds! And most people enjoy a combination of these and other ways of being a birder. So don’t worry about how much you don’t know, or fret that you don’t have the super skills of somebody else; the knowledge will come, as much of it as you desire, and will keep coming your whole life long. We all started out clueless about birds, and those of us who’ve had years to progress in this activity are totally envious of you beginners, because we know just how many first-time thrills you’ll get to experience.

OT: How do you explain birding to someone who has absolutely no idea what it is?

CC: Imagine you’ve spent your whole life blindfolded and with earplugs, and then one day, someone takes them away so you can suddenly see and hear. That’s what birding is: Opening your awareness to creatures that have been right there under your nose all along and, through those creatures, connecting you on a personal, experiential level to the whole wild world. If that sounds extraordinary, that’s because it is.

OT: Your father was a science educator, and his influence on your love of learning and the natural world is evident. Can you share one piece of advice or wisdom from him that still resonates with you today?

CC: Never spoken outright, but completely understood by the way he and my mother lived their lives: If you see something wrong with the world, it’s your personal responsibility to do something to try to fix it. No excuses, no shirking, no waiting for someone else to do it. Get busy!

OT: The last few years have seen you turn a sour, viral moment into a platform for advocacy, education, and joy. How do you want to be remembered 50 years from now?

CC: Hopefully, as someone who inspired some people to live their truth, to stand up to rogue authorities, to grab a pair of binoculars and head outdoors, and to pass those things on to others. And as someone who loved to dance.

OT: You’ve long been an activist for racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights. In your experience, where do you see the intersections between environmentalism, queer identity, and activism most clearly?

CC: The common thread is about making room for all of us to thrive—humans and other species, and humans of every kind. For species, one of the things that means is preserving key habitat and creating new ones in unexpected places, as Doug Tallamy is spearheading with the Homegrown National Park movement. For Black people, it’s working to eliminate biases that keep us out and get us killed and maimed. For queers, that means fighting for legal protections on the state and local level, especially for our most vulnerable—our youth and our trans brothers and sisters—in the face of a concerted federal onslaught against us. Same for women, who on the national level have unthinkably had their fundamental right to bodily autonomy stripped away in our lifetime. We let that happen. Our activism is the way we make better things happen, for all of us.

OT: What’s your favorite compliment you've ever received?

CC: Favorite? Try heart-wrenchingly meaningful: When my dying father unexpectedly said “I do” in the middle of watching a movie. If you need to understand, it’s in chapter 11 of my memoir, Better Living Through Birding.

OT: You’re no stranger to interviews, but what’s a question no one ever asks you but you wish they would?

CC: “What’s your diet and exercise regimen?"

OT: And finally, outside of NYC, what's your favorite hotel?

CC: The Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming. You walk into that cavernous, rustic main hall with its floor-to-ceiling windows, and the view of the Grand Tetons takes your breath away.