David James is an Australian birder and ecologist whose fascination with seabirds began in 1982 when, as a teenager, he joined a pelagic trip off Sydney “just for a lark.” The experience sparked a lifelong passion that has taken him across Australia and around the world.

Over four decades of birding, David has recorded more than 750 species in Australia and over 650 in North America, with additional birding adventures throughout Southeast Asia, Antarctica, and beyond. He is an international authority on frigatebirds and has published widely on their identification, as well as on gulls and honeyeaters. During the 1990s, David served as a staff editor for the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, contributing numerous texts to this landmark reference.

A longtime member of the BirdLife Australia Rarities Committee, David also works professionally as an ecologist, having studied and researched an extraordinary range of species—from whales and dolphins to bats, frogs, and insects. His guiding experience includes birding tours and whale-watching trips across Australia and the United States. In 2006, he organized and led the first-ever Christmas Island Birdweek. David lives in Sydney with his partner, Brigitte.