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In essence the Bird Buddy is a device to spot and identify birds that come to the feeder, using everyone’s favourite buzzwords; Artificial Intelligence or AI. The Bird Buddy comes in a nice package, but there’s not much inside; you get the removable camera unit on top which is actually quite large and fat. Underneath there is the feeder unit itself and a small cup to fill it with.
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Smart bird feeders are basically bird feeders equipped with a camera module and a wireless connection chip allowing you to get an intimate look at birds chowing down on your birdseed buffet. Bird Buddy, like some other more expensive bird feeders also have companion apps which use AI to try to identify the bird for you. These feeders are battery powered and have some type of motion detection too, which will activate the camera whenever it detects a bird. Finally, smart bird feeders must be weather resistant to protect the electronics from rain and other conditions.
When you factor in the camera, battery, sensors, plus app development and do a bit of math, you can realize there’s a lot that goes into a smart feeder, but it also gives you a lot more too.
Bord Buddy: Unboxing and Setup
The construction is all plastic but the design is nice and modern with a narrow feed container behind clear plastic. There’s a divot in there to slip in the camera which stays in place thanks to the housing’s built-in magnet.
The Bird Buddy’s recyclable plastic housing is supposed to be weatherproof and feels both light and pretty solid but how well the housing will hold up after a few years could depend on your environment.
To get started, you should fully charge the camera with the included USB-C cable which connects to the top of the camera module. For waterproofing it is covered with a small silicone stopper. The stopper does not have any type of anchor so don't misplace it. I will say I think this is a cheap design choice: Most silicone stoppers when placed in the top of a unit that will be outdoors have a lanyard that permanently connect them so you can always ensure the cover will stay protected. Another small corner cut.
Next, download the Bird Buddy app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store so you can immediately connect the module to your Wi-Fi. Connecting your Bird Buddy to your Wi-Fi early can help you figure out where to place your Bird Buddy as the feeder cannot function without an Internet connection. The app will help you stay within Wi-Fi range.
You also need to create a Bird Buddy account through the app as the photos and videos the camera takes go directly to the cloud, with an option to download too.
Once you have mounted the Bird Buddy within range of your router on the 2.4 GHz band, you can then add the bird seed by opening the latch on the back of the feeder.
Specs and Features Using Bird Buddy Feeder
I am actually really frustrated with how poorly designed this is. This feeder has one job and that is to hold birdseed to feed the birds. But there’s no good efficient way to fill it and not waste a whole bunch of seed in the process. Major thumbs down.
Waiting period
With the feeder finally full and settled out in the yard I was hoping to be flooded with bird sightings. For me it took almost a full week before I got my first notification. I can’t blame this on Bird Buddy since there’s probably a waiting period before the birds figure out what’s on the menu in your yard. But you might want to scale back your expectations.
App is clunky, cluttered and confusing
The Bird Buddy app should begin sending you notifications. The app will record any sightings and store both video and photos buy you’ll get push notifications also.
Unfortunately the easy account set up is where the fun with the app ended. The app is extremely cluttered and busy, and it's very hard to figure out how to access your feeder.
I will say there is a lot of overlap here among these tabs, and understanding the intricacies and subtle differences of what you get between each tab is not made clear.