Most iPhone-connected smart home products are more for convenience than fun, but Bird Buddy, a bird feeder that sends pictures to your iPhone, is definitely in the latter category. When I first came across the Bird Buddy, I thought it would be an interesting novelty product to give as a gift, but it turned out to be one of my all-time favorite smart devices.
Design and Components
Made from a sturdy plastic material, the Bird Buddy comes in either blue or yellow. The housing is designed around a camera, which is placed front and center to capture images of birds that come by to eat from the feeder. A tray holds the seed, and there's a small perch for birds to stand on to eat. There's a seed reservoir at the back to replenish what's in the tray as it's consumed, and a roof protects the seed from the elements.
There are two versions of the Bird Buddy, one with a solar roof for charging the camera and one with a standard plastic roof. If you have a semi-sunny spot for the Bird Buddy, I recommend the solar roof. I have my feeder in a spot that gets several hours of sun per day, and I've never had to take the camera out to charge it. A family member also has the solar model (that I gifted), and it is in a much shadier spot. With the shade cover, the Bird Buddy needs to be charged every month to every other month.
Both of these feeders see multiple visits per day, though the one located in the shade that needs charging more often has an almost constant stream of bird visitors. Without a solar roof, Bird Buddy says that the battery lasts for 5 to 15 days, so the solar roof does eliminate the hassle of frequent charging.
The Bird Buddy disassembles into its component pieces for charging and cleaning. You can remove the camera module and bring it into the house, but doing so requires taking the feeder down, opening up the back, and pulling the camera out. It charges with USB-C, and takes two to four hours to charge to full. With the solar roof, you connect the USB-C port on the Bird Buddy to the USB-C port on the solar charger, so you could do the same thing with a DIY setup, adding your own solar panel. Alternatively, you could use an extension cord and keep it plugged in all the time, though Bird Buddy only recommends this for protected areas like a balcony.
Setup wasn't difficult, but the lights on the Bird Buddy are super hard to see, so when you need a blinking red light to pair, it's hard to tell that it's blinking. I didn't have issues other than that, and with the solar version, it's a little tricky getting the camera plugged in. You need to connect the USB-C cable from the solar panel to the Bird Buddy camera, routing the cable through a small spot a the top of the feed bin. I was worried about this set up, but it's held up to heavy rain and the cabling has not gotten wet.
Along with the solar roof, camera module, and feeder housing, the Bird Buddy comes with a seed scoop for adding bird seed, a hanger, and a pole mount, so there are multiple options for mounting. I bought a pole from Wild Birds Unlimited that I read on the internet was compatible with the mount, but it was not, so I hung it up. If you want to mount the Bird Buddy on a pole, you will need a pole with a 0.97-inch inner diameter (a common size).
Size wise, the Bird Buddy is comparable to smaller bird feeders on the market, and it holds about four cups of seed in the reservoir and tray. In my experience, that's about a pound of bird seed. Adding and refilling seed can be done by opening up the back hatch and using the seed scoop to pour it in. I only need to refill around once every two weeks or so because I have other bird feeders, but that will vary based on how many visitors you're getting.
You need to make sure the Bird Buddy is in range of your Wi-Fi router because it does need a constant Wi-Fi connection and a 2.4GHz band.
Add-Ons
The size of the seed tray and the small size of the included perch will likely limit most visits to smaller birds like finches and sparrows, but Bird Buddy sells a perch extender for $24. I did go ahead and pick this up, and I like it because it gives the birds more space to perch.
There's also a 3-in-1 nutrition set for $29, but I wasn't a fan of it. It includes an add-on seed/water dish that you can use for seeds or jelly, or attach to an included water bottle. There's also a set of prongs where you can add an orange or another fruit if you want to attract orioles. You can only use one of these at a time, and while the tray itself was fine, the water bottle took up too much perch space and blocked the camera.
For $14, you can get a suet ball holder too, which can attract more types of birds. The suet ball also blocks the camera somewhat, so it's a bit of a tradeoff. If you want to mount the Bird Buddy to the wall, you'll need the $24 Wall Mount, which is not included with the base purchase.
If you have access to a 3D printer, I have seen several Bird Buddy STLs for add-on perches and seed holders, plus neat options like a fence to keep birds from perching and eating out of view.
There is no built-in protection from squirrels, raccoons, and other critters on the Bird Buddy, which is a downside. You either need to have a setup that puts the feeder out of range of these creatures or you need to accept them as visitors. The pole that I use has a baffle that blocks squirrels from climbing it, and it seems to be far enough away from nearby surfaces so the squirrels can't leap to the feeder. Bird Buddy does not sell poles or baffles at this time, though it looks like there's going to be a pole setup released later this year.
While Bird Buddy sells birdseed, any kind of bird food can go in the device. There are some limitations, like full-sized in-shell peanuts likely wouldn't fit because of the opening size, but any kind of bird seed or meal worm mix should work. I have not tried the Bird Buddy bird seed, as I've just bought seed locally from a nearby bird store.
Bird Visits
It took a good two weeks for birds to start visiting my Bird Buddy after I set it up, and there are placement considerations to take into account. Bird Buddy's website has instructions and tips on attracting birds. In addition to being positioned to keep squirrels and similar critters away, the Bird Buddy will be more successful near a water source like a bird bath and with trees and bushes that birds can hide in to escape predators.
I don't have the Bird Buddy in the most ideal location because I wanted it near a window where my cat can watch it, but it's still attracting birds, so there's some wiggle room. I have a cohort of house finches that dominate my bird feeders right now, but I have seen a goldfinch a few times and a wren. There are robins and a ton of other birds around, but the combination of nearness to my windows, a nearby resident hawk, and the finches are keeping them away.
A family member who has a Bird Buddy much further than the house near a forested area gets frequent cardinal, dove, and sparrow visits, plus we've seen bluebirds, nuthatches, chickadees, and towhees.
You could probably put it anywhere and have good luck on bird visits, though the most variety will come with offering the best conditions and food options.
Bird Buddy App
The Bird Buddy is just a bird feeder with a camera, and there are many on the market, but it's the app that elevates the experience and sets it apart. Bird Buddy is able to recognize the birds that are visiting your feeder, letting you know what kind of bird you're getting, so it becomes a fun game trying to attract new birds. I was thrilled when I recently had visits from a pair of goldfinches.
It's a lot of fun to get an alert about a new type of bird, and you can collect snapshots of your favorites so you can keep a log of the species that you've seen.
While you can view a livestream of the Bird Buddy, it's mostly set up to take snapshots when birds visit and then send "postcards" for you to view at various times throughout the day. Postcards include several photos and a video of the visit, and they are limited to the best images captured so that Bird Buddy doesn't send an excessive number of notifications.
I get between two and four notifications a day, usually a couple visit notifications and then a wrap-up notification at the end of the day. Bird Buddy will also sometimes send notifications for a feeding frenzy so you can tune in and watch live. In the app, there are notification customization settings. Smart push notifications (the default) alert you to only the most "essential and intriguing updates" with an end-of-day recap, but there is an option to get all push notifications.
There are separate battery preserving options that change how many postcards you get, so at max, you'll see more recordings. You can also ignore mystery visitors (where a bird can't be identified), or ignore a certain type of bird if you see the same thing over and over again. Notifications can also be paused for a set period of time, so there's a lot of control over what the app is sending.
In addition to viewing your own Bird Buddy, you can be invited to receive postcards from other Bird Buddy owners, and you can invite people to see yours. You can invite three people to view your Bird Buddy feed in total. You can also choose to join popular bird feeders for a 72-hour period, where you receive postcards from that feeder. Pictures that you get from the Bird Buddy app can be saved to your smartphone, shared with other people, and shared on social media.
Bird Buddy has a "BB TV" feed where you can see videos from all around the world, swiping through them to swap to a new video, sort of like birdie TikTok. It's a fun way to see different birds, and to get a look at what kinds of birds might be in your own area that you can attract. You can save postcards, and tap into the Collection section of the app to see your images.
Viewing an image in the Collection provides information on that bird species, such as their favorite foods, where they're found, fun facts, personality traits, and lifespan. There are even recordings of their songs and calls.
You do not need a subscription to use the Bird Buddy app, and viewing pictures of your own visits and birds from around the world is entirely free. There are, however, some "Pro" app features that are available as an upgrade. I bought a Pro subscription, but I'm not sure if it's something that I'll keep using.
Pro lets you invite more people to your own feeder, view more remote feeders, ignore select bird species (possibly one of the most useful options), see higher-resolution video recordings, and get more postcards with frenzy mode. There are also new AI options that are still in the early stages of development. Bird Buddy can alert you to sick birds and hide their images, but since turning it on, it's been telling me every bird with a messy food beak is ill, which is inaccurate. I ultimately had to turn it off.
There's also a feature for "naming" frequent visitors, which I've been testing. I've named several of the house finches that come by, but Bird Buddy can't really tell them apart, which is not surprising because I'm not sure I can either. It will send a notification asking if a bird is a certain one that you've named, but it's up to you to confirm by comparing photographs. I have three female finches that I've named, but it only ever asks about one, so it's not a feature I've found particularly useful. You can get alerts about non-bird spottings like squirrels and lizards with Pro, and connect to Amazon Alexa devices to see images and hear bird sounds to bring the outdoors inside.
Other standard app features include notifications for cleaning and charging, assembly and maintenance documents, and Bird Buddy support.
Note that you need the Bird Buddy app to use the feeder and view the feed. It is not available for viewing on the web, and there is no Mac/PC version of the app.
Bottom Line
The Bird Buddy is a lot of fun. I initially got one as a gift for someone who is hard to shop for, and it turned out to be a hit. We have regular conversations about bird visits, bird food, and thwarting squirrels. I'd definitely recommend it for that kind of situation, and any nature lover or gardener would likely be thrilled with it.
I enjoy my daily postcard recap and checking out the birds that have visited over the course of the day, even when it's a bird I've seen dozens of times (aka house finches). There are bird squabbles, messy eating videos, acrobatics, and other activity to get into. I've found myself searching for the optimal bird food, adding additional bird feeders, and researching birds nearby, so it can get a little involved.
On the downside, the Bird Buddy is expensive (definitely wait for a sale), and there are no size options if you want to attract bigger birds or use other kinds of feeders with the camera. The subscription features are a little hit or miss, and some of the new AI additions are very much in the early stages of development.
There are a lot of bundle options, but I'd recommended the solar roof model and the add-on extended perch over the other add-ons.
How to Buy
The Bird Buddy can be purchased from the Bird Buddy website or from Amazon. It is priced at $239 for the standard model and $299 for the model with a solar roof, though there are often sales.
Note: Bird Buddy provided MacRumors with a Smart Bird Feeder with Solar Roof for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
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