David Barrett

David Barrett earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Harvard and did graduate work in mathematics at MIT and in finance at the University of Chicago. After a long career as a hedge fund manager he is now an investor and computer scientist. Other interests include running, lifting, and nature photography.

As he explains in his book, he initially began birding in November 2010 as a way to make his long walks in Central Park more enjoyable. He was already doing all the training he could handle as a middle-distance runner, and believed that extra walking would provide an additional training stimulus without requiring longer recovery. He quickly began to enjoy birding for its own sake, however, and became as obsessive about observing new bird species as he had been about lowering his mile times.

During the years 2011 to 2020 when he was active as a competitive birder, his achievements included multiple first-place finishes on eBird's annual Top Birders list for Manhattan, eight years of over 200 bird species there, and the highest lifetime total species in Manhattan as reported to the New York State Ornithological Association. 

He is best known for his Twitter account @BirdCentralPark (Manhattan Bird Alert), which features photographs and videos of Manhattan nature, including such "celebrity birds" as the Mandarin Duck, Snowy Owl, and Barred Owl, all of which went on to receive worldwide media attention after appearing on his site.