Have you ever tried to take a good photo of a bird on the edge of a food bowl in your garden? Then you know that this is a matter of patience. Afterwards you naturally also want to know what kind of bird you have photographed. Something you can find out again via a bird guide or bird website.
All this can be much simpler with the Bird Buddy Smart Birdhouse, a bird feeding house with a camera that can recognize birds.
What is Bird Buddy?
The Bird Buddy is a smart bird feeding house that is equipped with an HD camera (Nature Cam). The built-in makes video recordings in 2K (HD) quality with a variable frame speed up to 120 fps, photos have a resolution of 5 megapixels. In addition, the camera is equipped with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for clear and colorful images.
2.4 GHz WiFi is used for connectivity with your home network. This has a greater scope than the 5 GHz and 6 GHz band.
The recordings made by the camera can be viewed in the Bird Buddy app, this app uses AI to identify the birds that have visited the house. Through the app you can see exactly which birds all use the feeder in your garden and you can even give regular visitors their own name.
The built -in battery can be charged via the roof of the bird feeder house by the built -in solar panel. Connect the solar panel to the Nature Cam via a USB cable.
Design according to guidelines Nature organizations
The design of the birdhouse meets the guidelines of nature organizations such as the Bird Protection. So it is tray of the food bowl with holes so that no water can stand in it and prevent mold formation. To prevent people from luring birds, it was consciously decided not to add a speaker to the camera, so that no lures can be played.
Via the Bird Buddy app you will receive notifications regarding cleaning the feeding house. This keeps the camera lens of the Nature Cam clean, but the spread of diseases under the bird community is also prevented.
Prepare the Bird Buddy
Before you start placing the bird feeding house in the garden, it is wise to first fully charge the battery of the camera with a mains adapter. A USB-C charging cable is included, the mains power adapter must arrange yourself.
If the battery is fully charged, place it in the bird feeding house and connect the cable from the solar panel to it. The camera is held in place in the bird feeding house with a magnet. If the camera does not detect this magnet, the camera cannot be used.
Download the Bird Buddy app and create an account, the app is entirely in Dutch. After creating an account you can add the birdhouse to the app. The app guides these steps there, which consists of a Bluetooth connection to your iPhone, after which you connect the camera to your Wi -Fine network. Make sure that the camera only works with a 2.4 GHz connection. This is followed by a few general setting such as the name and location of the camera and you can set whether you want a wide or close-up recordings.
A hanging bracket and a stick adapter are supplied with the bird feeding house. You can click the bracket in the roof of the bird feeding house, after which you can hang your house in a tree. You can also use the stick adapter with a diameter of 2.5 cm, which you attach it with 4 screws on the bottom of the house.
Place the Bird Buddy in the garden
After the above steps you can place the bird feeding house in your garden. It is of course important that your Wi -Fi connection is good at that location. In the settings of the Bird Buddy app you can view the signal strength of your WiFi network. Finding your right place for the bird feeding house can be a challenge, especially if you have a large garden. In addition to the Wi -Fi connection, it is also important that the camera has no backlight of the sun and that the solar panel is in the sun.
As a last step you open the cover on the back of the bird feeder house. With the help of the supplied measuring cup you can now fill the feed reservoir. After this you close the cover again. Your Bird Buddy is now ready for your first winged visitor.
Do not expect the birds to come to the Bird Buddy directly. Birds notice changes in the area flawlessly and will have to get used to the presence of your feeding house. On average it takes a week for birds to become used to it and that you can view the first recordings.
Bird Buddy in practice
A few days after placing the bird feeding house you can expect the first images of birds. The camera can make close-up or widescreen recordings. With a close-up recording, the bird is mainly visible on the recording, the widescreen variant shows both the bird and the environment. Close-up recordings are better suited for recognizing the bird species.
If a bird has been detected by the camera, you can receive a notification of it. From the app you can then view the recordings. These consist of a video and 1 or more photos (cards). With the help of AI the bird species is determined and you can read more information about this. You can export the photos taken to your photo library as a so -called card.
The recordings of the camera are super sharp and rich in color thanks to the HDR function. If this is not the case, you will probably suffer from backlight that shines directly in the camera. It is then best to adjust the position of the camera. Via the settings you can adjust the recording quality to 720p, 1080p, 2K and Slow Motion.
The app has a function to view the camera images live. Although our Bird Buddy has a good Wi -Fi connection, it takes an average of tens of seconds before the live stream becomes visible in the app and sometimes it does not appear at all. The live stream function is of course not the most important function. More importantly, you can view the recordings and that works great.
The battery is automatically charged on sunny days using the solar panel in the roof. On days without sun, the battery life in our bird feeding house decreases around 8 to 10%. This means a battery life of approximately 10 days. After sunset, the camera is automatically placed in sleep mode to extend the battery life.
Optional Bird Buddy Premium subscription
All functionality described in this review is available as standard in the Bird Buddy app. With the help of an in-app purchase you can also purchase a Bird Buddy Premium subscription, this subscription includes:
- Recordings in 2K Ultra HD quality.
- Share live streams with guest accounts.
- Returning birds give their own name.
- Extensive AI information about bird species.
- 20% discount on Bird Buddy products.
- Unlimited cloud storage for your bird videos.
In the vast majority of cases, as a Bird Buddy user, you will have more than sufficient for the standard functionality and a premium account is not necessary unless you are a birdwatcher. You can try out the Premium subscription for 7 days for free, after which you pay € 5.99 per month or € 59.99 if you pay per year.
Conclusion: Bird Buddy Bird feed house
Review Score
As a nature lover, the Bird Buddy is definitely recommended, you get a nice insight into which bird species your garden visits. The quality of the recordings are super clear and thanks to the addition of HDR very colorful. The Bird Buddy app looks nice and completely in Dutch. The camera has a disadvantage: it takes a long time before the connection is established when viewing live images.
The purchase price is on the big side, but we can imagine that bird lovers have fewer problems with this.
- Easily operated app, completely in Dutch
- AI recognition of birds in the recordings
- Solar panel for charging the battery
- Bright and colorful HDR recordings
- Slow when opening the live stream
Buy Bird Buddy
You can purchase the Bird Buddy bird feeding house from our partner SB-Supply for € 299. Incidentally, SB-Supply has had no influence whatsoever on the content of this review.
