This feeder also comes with extra plastic flowers and a little brush to scrub them, and the app sends reminders when it’s time to clean. You’ll also find seasonal touches in the app, like the ability to send digital flight holiday cards along with photos captured by your feed, and a tool that puts hats, clothes and accessories on the plane, which is funnier than it sounds. However, as per Birdbuddy Pro seed feederbelow, the biggest disadvantage is that the feeder sensor does not capture every bird every bird that visits, which can be a bummer when you see something interesting outside the window but it doesn’t appear in the program.
The best Smart Birdhouse
WIRE
- Two cameras show two views of the action
- The pole-mountable solar panel was reliable in my tests
- Different hole sizes can be set for different types
HE IS TIRED
- Wood needs care
- Birds did not like the mesh floor (removable)
After experiencing another round of connection issues and Birdfy Polygon (see below), I replaced it with the new Birdfy Duo and haven’t had any problems. The stylish, modern Duo is a fir box with two cameras – one looking down the hole and one carefully placed inside the box, so you can get a full view of what’s going on. Both cameras have night vision (infrared). Like Poligoni, the Duo uses a remote control to restart and recharge the camera (although a separate solar panel, which can be mounted on a pole, keeps the camera reliably charged), as well as holes of different sizes for different species, each with its own anti-chewing protection. There is a metal mesh with drainage holes that you can place in the holes in the bottom third of the Nest to make the hole bigger or smaller. My yard’s favorite chicks seemed too isolated from the netting, so I covered it with a layer of moss. The Birdfy app will collect photos and put them together in a shareable “story”, but I haven’t found any bird recipients, so all my photos are in the “Nesting” category. So far, Duo has been rained on by the bunch and survived a bit of a heat wave, but I can tell that the wood will need to be cleaned after this season.
Smart Bird Feeder With Best Software
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Screenshot courtesy of Kat Merck
Birdbuddy
Smart Bird Feeder Pro
WIRE
- Fun and feature-rich app
- The built-in solar panel works well
HE IS TIRED
- The camera does not always capture all birds
Birdbuddy’s Pro model it has a new HDR camera that can also shoot 2K video with slow motion capabilities. In addition to having a larger lens that looks bigger and more advanced, the camera now has a larger focus range, a 122-degree field of view, and a high-fidelity microphone. (Registration for Birdbuddy Premium for $70 a year it unlocks 2K Ultra with a higher video bitrate, allowing for richer colors, sharper images, and less background noise—as well as the ability to set alerts for sick or injured birds, among other things—but it’s perfectly usable without it. )
The photos aren’t as impressive as those of competitors like Birdfy Pro Duo, Camojojo Hibird, or Kiwibit, and the camera, sadly, only captures a fraction of the birds that visit. However, the Birdbuddy app is excellent, with a user-friendly design and lots of useful notifications, such as when a cat is spotted near you, or if it’s time to clean the feeder.
It also gives you insights gathered over time, such as when certain species seem to prefer to visit. (Finches seem to like to visit my yard at 10 a.m. every day.) Birdbuddy also “sleeps” at night and doesn’t seem to care about taking pictures of people, so it wouldn’t make a good choice to double up as a security camera, and there are also seasonal features like the ability to send holiday cards or “dress up” visiting birds with hats, glasses, and sweats. (It’s funnier than it sounds, really!) Both Birdbuddys only work with 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi.
Another shortcoming of the Birdbuddy is the annoyingly small, hinged 4-cup seed tray. The feeder comes with its own stained cup, but I have yet to fill the feeder without making a huge mess. I tried it too 3-in-1 Nutrition Kits ($39)which includes a screw tray that can be a water fountain, jelly dish, or fruit stock for fruit-loving species like orioles. I’ve used it as a gel dish and water fountain and found that it blocks enough of a perch that birds tend to move out of the camera’s view to avoid it. However, this upgrade is still suitable for those who like the best experience of the app or want to take advantage of some of its unique sharing features, especially the Premium ability to share your live stream with others.
If You Want to Use an Existing Bird Feeder
WIRE
- A simple design allows you to use an existing bird feeder
- High quality photos and videos
- It works with 5-GHz Wi-Fi
HE IS TIRED
- It only has a 90 degree field of view
- It only comes with a wall mount
- The solar panel must be set aside
If you have a non-smart bird feeder that you already love, or you want to build your own and are just looking for a camera, the DIY stand-alone hybrid bird feeder camera is what you want. It supports both the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz Wi-Fi bands—a rarity for bird feeder cameras—and the adorable green owl streams 4K resolution video and 32 MP photos like Hibird’s largest feeder, above. There is a subscription level with features such as increased storage, but the camera can still be used without it. There’s an auxiliary solar panel included for charging, and you can mount it via its quarter-inch nut on the included collapsible arm and bracket, or jury-rig a custom solution. It pairs easily with the Hibird app, with access to AI (which is fine), live streaming, and a feature similar to Dr. Bird ChatGPT, where you can ask questions related to birds. (The answers are corny and not as granular as they could be, but the work may still be useful to some.)
