Christian Cooper — Birder Falsely Accused in Central Park — Wants Everyone to Access 'Healing' Power of Birds (Exclusive)

Christian Cooper birds by ear.

On a sunny morning in Central Park, with chimney swifts flitting through the sky above, Cooper explained to a group of reporters/aspiring birdwatchers how he uses his binoculars to confirm what his ears find first.

"I learned them through experience, and whenever I heard something I didn't know, I was like, what is that? And I'd track it down. And when you do that, you associate the sound with an experience, and it sticks." Cooper says of his technique, which had left him with the ability to enthusiastically recite dozens of bird sounds – like the "old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody" of the white-throated sparrow.

Cooper, 60, started birdwatching when he was 9 or 10 after he built a bird feeder and placed it in his Nassau County, New York, backyard.

"I got fascinated with the birds that were coming to the feeder. Particularly a red-winged blackbird. I saw this black bird with red on its wings. I'm like, 'I discovered a new species of crow.'" he says of his early spots.

Even though young Cooper later learned he didn't discover a new bird species, his interest in observing and learning about birds continued to blossom. It's a passion that has led him to six continents — soon to be seven when he visits Antarctica to birdwatch later this year — and a vice president role at the New York City Audubon Society.

Cooper has been an active member of Central Park's "very welcoming" birding community for years. But his interest in birds drew national attention in May 2020 after an unrelated White woman named Amy Cooper called the cops on him and falsely accused him of threatening her while he was birdwatching in the part of Central Park known as The Ramble.

The incident and its resulting headlines thrust Cooper into the spotlight, but access to a broader audience hasn't changed what's important to him. Cooper has used the widespread attention he has received as an opportunity to advocate for safer access to green spaces for all and the protection of the world's declining bird species.

"In my lifetime, since I started birding, we have lost one-third of all birds in North America," Cooper tells PEOPLE.

He hopes his new show with National Geographic, Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, will encourage others to embrace birding and protect their feathered friends.

In Extraordinary Birder, which premieres June 17 on Nat Geo WILD and June 21 on Disney+, Cooper, who also served as a consulting producer on the show, takes viewers around the world to marvel at some of Earth's most splendid birds and what they give to our planet.

"Wild birds connect you to the natural world, and they remind you that we are part of this whole process too," Cooper says of what he wants animal lovers to take away from the show.

In one episode, Cooper and crew shut down a lane of New York City's George Washington Bridge to check on the nest of peregrine falcon — a thrilling moment for the lifelong birder and New York resident.

"It was just a dizzying, exhilarating experience. Plus, peregrine falcons are magnificent creatures. It was a close encounter with a magnificent creature under magnificent circumstances," he says.

And while he is excited for everyone to experience moments like this in the show, Cooper has one episode that sticks out to him as something special.

"One of my favorite episodes that I'm looking forward to is the Alabama episode because that one had a lot of my heart in it because it was an interesting exploration of a whole bunch of things for me, and I hope it will be for the viewers. It's a northern Black gay person going to Alabama," Cooper says.

"My dad's side of the family comes from Alabama, and I had never been. It was interesting to see where my family had come from, but then also looking for birds and experiencing the civil rights history and the challenges that people still face down there. Fascinating experience; I hope we communicate some of that successfully in that episode of the show," he adds.

Along with the show, Cooper is working to bring more people to the peaceful birding world with his upcoming book Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World, out June 13 through Penguin Random House.

"In what ways has it not made my life better?" Coopers says of the title's inspiration. "It makes me feel connected to the world around me."

Cooper is also fostering new birders through Feathered Friends, an afterschool program he started through the New York City Audubon.

"Volunteers go take the school kids out to go birdwatching. We get them outside of the school. We get them out into nature," he says of the program. "A lot of these kids, their life is a sea of concrete or pixels and that's it. We're like, 'No, we're going to go out into the woods and we're going to see what's out there. We're going to listen. We're going to look, we're going to drink in the sunshine and the green.'"

"We get them out and thinking about birds and teaching about birds, and through the lens of birds, getting them to interact with the natural world around them, which is incredibly healing," Cooper adds.

For those who don't know where to start when it comes to connecting with the birds in their backyard, Cooper has a simple tip.

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"Just go outside and look and listen. No, seriously, that's all it takes," he advises.

Tune into the premiere of Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper on June 17 on Nat Geo WILD at 10 p.m./ 9 p.m. CST or on Disney + on June 21.