Jason Ward On Birding While Black And His Excitement For Fall Birding

Jason Ward is an Atlanta-based birder and host of the web series “Birds of North America,” in which he shares his love for birds by traveling around the continent. He joined Lois Reitzes on “City Lights” to talk about being a birder of color as well as what Atlantans can expect for the fall/winter birding seasons.

In May, a video filmed by Black birder Christian Cooper, in which he is falsely accused of threatening a white woman while birding in New York’s Central Park, went viral. The woman is now being prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.

When Ward first saw the video he was surprised to hear a trembling and nervous Cooper, who he knows personally as a strong and confident person.