This feeder also comes with extra plastic flowers and a little brush for scrubbing them, and the app sends reminders when it’s time to clean. You’ll also find fun, seasonal touches in the app, like the ability to send digital bird holiday cards with the photos your feeder captures, and a tool that superimposes hats, clothes, and various accessories on the birds, which is actually funnier than it sounds. However, as with the Birdbuddy Pro seed feeder, below, the big downside is that the feeder’s sensor doesn’t always pick up every bird that visits, which can definitely be a bummer when you see something interesting out the window but it doesn’t show up in the app.
Best Smart Birdhouse
WIRED
- Two cameras show two action views
- Pole-mountable solar panel was reliable in my testing
- Different hole sizes can be mounted for different species
TIRED
- Wood requires upkeep
- Birds didn’t like mesh floor (it is removable)
After experiencing another round of connection issues with the Birdfy Polygon (see below), I swapped it out for the newer Birdfy Duo and have had no issues whatsoever. The sleek, contemporary Duo is a fir box fitted with two cameras—one facing the hole and one tucked away discreetly inside the feeder, so you can get a full-spectrum view of what’s going on. Both cameras have night vision (the internal one is infrared). Like the Polygon, the Duo sports a remote for rebooting and recharging the camera (though the separate solar panel, which can be pole-mounted, has kept the cameras reliably charged), as well as different-size holes for different species, each with its own chew-proof predator guard. There’s a metal grate with drainage holes that you can slot into grooves in the lower third of the Nest to make the cavity larger or smaller. The interested chickadees of my yard seemed very put off by the grate, so I covered it with a layer of moss. The Birdfy app will collect images and string them together in a shareable “story,” but I haven’t had any avian takers, so all my images are in the “Nesting” category. So far, the Duo has been rained on a bunch and survived a mild heat wave, but I can tell the wood will need refinishing after this season.
Smart Bird Feeder With the Best App
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Screenshot courtesy of Kat Merck
Birdbuddy
Smart Bird Feeder Pro
WIRED
- Fun and feature-rich app
- Built-in solar panel works great
TIRED
- Camera doesn’t always capture all birds
Birdbuddy’s Pro model sports a snazzy new HDR camera that can also shoot 2K video with slow-motion capability. In addition to having a visibly larger and more advanced lens, the camera’s now got a larger focus range, 122-degree field of view, and high-fidelity microphone. (A subscription to Birdbuddy Premium for $70 a year unlocks 2K Ultra with a higher video bit rate, allowing for richer colors, sharper images, and less background noise—plus the ability to set alerts for sick or injured birds, among other things—but it’s perfectly usable without this. )
The photos aren’t nearly as impressive as those by competitors like the Birdfy Pro Duo, Camojojo Hibird, or Kiwibit, and the camera, frustratingly, only captures a small portion of the birds that actually visit. However, Birdbuddy’s app is a consistent standout, with a user-friendly design and plenty of helpful alerts, like if a cat is detected nearby, or if it’s time to clean the feeder.
It also serves you insights gathered over time, like what time certain species seem to prefer to visit. (Finches apparently like to visit my yard at 10 am daily.) The Birdbuddy also “sleeps” at night and does not seem to emphasize capturing photos of people, so it wouldn’t make a good choice to double as a security camera, and there are also unique seasonal features like the ability to send holiday cards or “dress up” visiting birds with hats, glasses, and sweaters. (It is funnier than it sounds, really!) Both Birdbuddys work with 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi only.
Another Birdbuddy downside is the infuriatingly small, hinged opening for filling the 4 cups’ worth of seed. The feeder comes with its own spouted cup, but I have yet to fill the feeder without making an enormous mess. I also tested the 3-in-1 Nutrition Set ($39), which includes a screw-on tray that can variably become a water fountain, jelly dish, or fruit stake for fruit-loving species like orioles. I’ve used it as a jelly dish and water fountain and found that it blocks enough of the perch area that birds tend to shift out of camera view to avoid it. However, this feeder is still worth it for those who like a more streamlined app experience or want to take advantage of some of its unique sharing features, especially Premium’s ability to share your feeder livestream with others.
If You Want to Use an Existing Bird Feeder
WIRED
- Flexible design allows you to use an existing bird feeder
- High-quality photo and video
- Works with 5-GHz Wi-Fi
TIRED
- Only has 90-degree field of view
- Only comes with a wall mount
- Solar panel has to be mounted separately
If you have a non-smart bird feeder you already like, or are interested in building your own and are just looking for a camera, Hibird’s stand-alone DIY feeder camera is what you want. It’s compatible with both 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz Wi-Fi bands—a rarity for bird-feeder cameras—and the cute green owl face streams the same better-than-average-quality 4K HD video and 32 MP pics as the bigger Hibird feeder, above. There is a subscription tier with features like increased storage, but the camera is still usable without it. There’s an auxiliary solar panel included for charging, and you can mount it via its quarter-inch nut on the included bendable arm and bracket, or jury-rig a custom solution. It pairs seamlessly with the Hibird app, with access to AI (which is just OK), livestreaming, and the Dr. Bird ChatGPT-like feature, where you can ask bird-related questions. (The answers are corny and not as granular as they could be, but the function still could be useful for some.)
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