Its name commemorated James Graham Cooper, an early California biologist.
It published the ornithological journal The Condor and the monograph series Studies in Avian Biology (formerly Pacific Coast Avifauna).
It presented the annual Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, which is given for lifetime achievement in ornithological research and was a member of the Ornithological Council.
In October 2016 the Cooper Ornithological Society merged with the American Ornithologists' Union to form the American Ornithological Society, based in Chicago, Illinois.
[1] The combined society continues to present the Loye and Alden Miller Research Award.