Max St. John is a new type of birding celebrity.
In the past, birding luminaries were often field guide authors or prolific listers, but that’s no longer necessarily the case. Over the past few years, some of the best-known and most-popular birding public figures have been digital content creators. These are birders whose primary currency isn’t elite field ID knowledge but relatability and humor.
That someone can become a recognizable birding personality primarily through comedy says something important about the moment birding is in. In the algorithmic era, birding as a hobby is large, culturally confident, and increasingly popular with young people. Influencers like Max are quickly becoming not only the face of birding but the first exposure to birding for many future birders. They are shaping the culture of birding, often by blending the anxieties and stresses of their generation with traditional birding culture while also changing what birding culture is.
On Instagram, where his account @maxtheverygoodboy has 439k followers, Max has built a growing audience with short, tightly edited videos built around the premise of being a hungover birder birding Brooklyn’s Prospect Park (and elsewhere). It’s not an exaggeration to say that Max has exposed hundreds of thousands of people to birding. So just as Max has become the introduction to birding for so many, longtime birders may be interested in an introduction to this new type of birding celebrity.
Here, Max St. John in his own words:
ABA: How did you get the idea for the “hungover birder in Prospect Park” persona? When did you realize it could work as a recurring series?
Max St. John: I hate to say it, but I was birding while hungover and low on sleep long before I started publicly admitting it, let alone filming it. But it’s a real honest portrait of myself, especially on weekend mornings in the spring . . .
ABA: If you could go birding with a hangover anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Max St. John: A penthouse in Miami, perhaps. Or maybe my own huge yard with a pool. But assuming that’s off-limits, probably East Africa. I would love a Shoebill to stare into my soul.
ABA: You blend a lot of cultural elements in your videos: birding culture, New York culture, broader pop culture, the challenges of Millennials . . . How do you balance those things? Does it just kind of happen naturally or are you actively trying to appeal to different audiences by referencing different subcultures?
Max St. John: I try to make it a point to never purposely appeal to anyone. I like to make things for me. They are (for the most part) 100% autobiographical at that moment in time and feel fun to poke at. I figure if I’m having these thoughts, surely someone else out there is too. I hope my videos reach the other lunatics out there.
ABA: Can you tell us about the behind-the-scenes work of producing your videos? How much work goes into one of your videos, from idea to upload? Do you do it all yourself? How much time do you spend filming versus editing? What’s the hardest part?
Max St. John: I mostly do things myself, but I’m also lucky to occasionally work with some great videographers. Even though it might not always look like it, it’s a surprising amount of writing, rewriting, and planning. I told someone once that it takes about 12 hours to write, shoot, and edit a “cinematic” IG post and they were very surprised . . . which I pretended didn’t hurt.
ABA: Did the popularity of your videos among birders surprise you? What do you think makes one pop? Can you usually tell beforehand which will really take off or are you often surprised by what performs best?
Max St. John: I never know what is going to do well, and I don’t try to anticipate that. I don’t think worrying about that is a healthy long-term strategy, and I’m never going to post for the sake of posting. At this point, whatever I post is something that somewhat excites me or scares me.
ABA: Do you track analytics obsessively, or try not to look?
Max St. John: I don’t. I think I’m impenetrable to love or hate.
ABA: Alright, we’re manifesting: You’ve collaborated with Bonner Black and various other Instagram bigwigs . . . Who’s the next birding influencer you’d like to collab with?
Max St. John: I tend to prefer to make stuff the same way I bird. By myself, a little confused, and frustrated. Also a little hot and dehydrated. That being said, Bonner is great.
ABA: Do you feel like a bird has ever judged you?
Max St. John: Yes, and most of the time it was deserved. Sometimes on particularly early mornings when I’m feeling slow from a lack of sleep, it seems the birds are lively and on the move. Especially the ones I really want to see. I have to immediately lock in. And they know it.
ABA: If Prospect Park birds could block you on Instagram, which species would do it first?
Max St. John: Great Blue Herons have had enough of my $&%@. Any time I see one, it’s stoically wading and hunting while my heart races, and I take pictures and videos from a safe but noticeable distance. It’s like I’m blowing someone’s cover in a game of hide and seek. They don’t say anything, but I sense the vitriol.
ABA: Apart from you, which Instagram influencers do you think are funniest, whether they’re a birder or not?
Max St. John: There are so many talented people creating things online, in theaters, and in stand-up. I don’t want to name any because it will inadvertently offend people I leave out. But I encourage people to see live events they’ve never seen and performers they don’t know.
ABA: Can you give us a sneak peek of any future birding-related content you’re planning?
Max St. John: I don’t think I’m legally allowed to disclose anything, but there’s a project I’m working on that should go live later this spring. It’s a short film I’m making about birding. Actually, scratch that from the record. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m not legally allowed to talk about it yet because I’ll be in hot water with the investors who already hate my guts frankly. Please don’t put this in the article, let’s just delete this entire question.
ABA: How can birders who love your work support you?
Max St. John: Instagram for short form and YouTube for medium form stuff coming up. @maxtheverygoodboy is my handle. Or I’ll be birding hungover in the park, I’m sure you can find me there.
ABA: What are your professional goals? What do you want to end up doing?
Max St. John: I’m excited to shoot things that look better than what I’ve been doing. I want to make short films and features that people can relate to and I want them to look great. Social media right now feels like a means to an end, but in the meantime IG reels and TikToks are fun.
ABA: Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Max St. John: It’s hard not to feel hopeless about the world, and I’d love to end with a parting message of hope and resilience and strength, but I don’t feel that right now. And I think that’s okay too—that’s allowed. At least that’s what I tell myself. I can’t make people feel better with jokes or the things I make, but hopefully I can make a few people out there feel like they aren’t alone in these feelings and there’s some comfort in that.
Featured image: Max St. John’s popular short-form videos have exposed thousands of people to the joy of birding. Image © Matt Salacuse.
Frank Izaguirre is Marketing and Communications Manager for the ABA. Frank runs the ABA’s social media, writes articles for the ABA’s website, and coordinates the ABA’s marketing strategies. Frank is also in charge of the Bird of the Year Program, collaborating with the Bird of the Year artist and writing articles that promote the Bird of the Year Program and conservation efforts related to the Bird of the Year. Frank appears regularly on the American Birding Podcast as a guest and occasionally as a guest host. Frank enjoys local birding in bad weather and networking with birders around the world. He also loves looking for salamanders and moths. Frank and his wife Adrienne and daughter Maya live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Frank’s birding patch is urban Schenley Park.
