Even with a great camera and a birding lens, capturing top-flight pictures of birds in your yard is an exercise in extreme patience. On top of that, unless you're a seasoned birder, you still have to sift through websites or books to identify the species.
Those two pain points have given rise to a new breed of smart bird feeders, essentially a bird feeder with a WiFi-enabled camera attached. The Bird Buddy, which launched in 2020, is one of the most popular of the bunch—and with good reason, based on months of first-hand testing by our team at the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Improvement & Lab. That included operations and durability testing in the Lab, as well as extensive field use by a consumer tester in New Jersey.
What’s so special about Bird Buddy?
Bird Buddy goes beyond the trappings of run-of-the-mill camera-equipped bird feeders. With its free, AI-powered companion app, Bird Buddy identifies the birds visiting your property, transforming every visit into a photo or video “postcard” captured by its built-in camera. Each image or clip can be saved to the app’s Collection space indefinitely. Our experts appreciate the flexibility to share these postcards with the online Bird Buddy community, friends and family.
The videos record sound, too, which, coupled with the camera’s instant bird identification, helps users learn more about their feathered friends. In addition, the app provides handy reminders to clean the feeder, ensuring the smudge-free camera lens captures the best images and helping prevent the spread of disease within the bird community.
The backbone of Bird Buddy is the app. It has an optional Premium subscription ($69.99 per year) that offers features like advanced AI recognition, membership discounts, and alerts if a cat is detected nearby or if a sick bird visits the feeder, so you can report it to local carers. You can also use the Premium subscription to assign nicknames to your regular feathered visitors.
Our experts also like that the images shared through Heartbeat, Bird Buddy’s community science platform, can be used by scientists to better understand migratory patterns and how factors like climate change impact bird species.
The feeder’s design emphasizes responsible interaction with nature as well. The National Audubon Society has standards of ethical bird photography, and the silent, motionless action of the Bird Buddy is perfectly in line. So while sound is recorded alongside video (which helps to identify each species), there's no speaker to mimic bird calls and falsely lure birds.
Bird Buddy Explore will also enrich your bird watching adventures by connecting you with up to three bird feeders from a network across the U.S. and internationally, broadening your exposure to unfamiliar feathered friends.
Smart upgrades
Bird Buddy recently upgraded to the Smart Bird Feeder Pro, which offers higher video resolution, a wider dynamic range and better low-light performance than the original. That results in better images when the lighting is less than optimal, improved focusing for exceptionally sharp close-ups and a wider field of view so you can see more of the activity on your feeder.
There are a number of accessories you can add to your feeder, like the optional solar panel roof, which all but eliminates the need to remove the camera for manual charging. If you’d like to attract the greatest variety of birds, there is a perch extender, a suet ball holder (for birds that prefer high-energy, low-waste food), and a 3-in-1 nutrition set. The water bottle attaches to the dish for jelly, and so does the fruit holder, so you can use only one or the other at a time. To make it easier to consistently attract and feed birds, a subscription seed service is also available.
Bird Buddy also offers a hummingbird feeder, with a 180º field of view and characteristic red feeding slots. It also has an optional solar panel roof for ease of charging.
How to get started with the Bird Buddy Feeder
We found it very easy to download the app to our phone and set up our account. Regardless of which feeder you have, you’ll need to start by charging the camera. Spare plugs are provided in case you lose the original. A USB-C to USB-C charging cable is provided to plug into your laptop; you’ll need an adapter (not provided) to plug it into the wall.
Once charged, we installed the Bird Buddy in the feeder with the lens closest to the base, and used the included scoop to fill the feeder with about four cups of seed.
The feeder must be within range of your Wi-Fi connection (note that it only connects to 2.4 GHz), and if you’re using the solar panel roof, it needs access to direct sunlight. Also, make sure the camera is not facing the sun or something bright, if you want it to recognize the most birds and capture the best shots.
A metal hanger makes it easy to hang the Bird Buddy on a hook for a hanging basket. Depending on the model you get, a universal mount for the top of a pole or similar area and a wall mount are available.
Our experience with the Bird Buddy Feeder
After a couple of days of no activity, birds and squirrels finally started visiting the Bird Buddy in our test yard. Initially, they hunkered at the edge of the feeder, and the images captured then were not great. But within a few days, their confidence grew and they took center stage. The app alerted our tester to new visitors, and created videos and photo postcards they could save to the Collection. However, the camera didn’t capture every bird encounter, and while the app attempted to name each creature, if the visit was too fleeting, it occasionally either misidentified it or gave up and captioned it “unrecognized.”
It was easy enough to properly identify the bird by following the instructions on the website. "I have great photos that I can share with my friends and loved ones, and can also choose to share them with the Bird Buddy community to help with their conservation efforts," said our tester. The video clips capture sound too (with great clarity) and last from around 30 seconds to two minutes, depending on how long the birds stay on the feeder.
You can also take your own photos if you notice activity on the feeder. Simply tap on the "live” icon on the app, and you'll be able to view the feeder in real time and snap away. Once you've selected the images you like best, you can send a request through the app for them to be identified.
One thing to note is that postcards are deleted in seven days, even if you share them with friends, unless you specifically save them to your Collection. But an added perk is that the app shares additional facts about any saved birds, which helps you learn even more about them.
Through Bird Buddy Explore, our tester connected with three different feeders around the world. "It was wonderful to see a Bananaquit up close and personal from a feeder in Santiago, Panama," she said. "I can switch between viewing different feeders located in so many different countries, and within the USA."
How do you care for the Bird Buddy Feeder?
The Bird Buddy can stay out year-round, but you should bring the camera indoors if temperatures dip below 4ºF or rise above 120ºF. On average, the camera can last up to a month without charging. With the optional solar roof and plentiful direct sunlight, you’ll rarely need to manually charge it.
Wipe the camera lens every now and then for the best pictures. When the app reminds you to clean the feeder, remove the camera unit, and use a damp soft cloth to clean it.
The app has a detailed cleaning instructions video. The process is simple: disassemble the front and rear windows and perch, and wash them with a soft brush and warm soapy water, before rinsing well. Wipe off grime with a wet soft cloth or sponge, and rinse well. To clean the solar panel, simply spray with water, and let it dry — no need to scrub, or use chemicals. Ensuring the charging port is clean is also important — use a vacuum with a small nozzle or a wooden toothpick to gently dislodge any debris.
Make sure everything is completely dry before reassembling the feeder and the solar panel roof (if you have one). Reinstall the camera (plug the charger port if you’re not using a solar panel), and then fill the feeder with seed.
Is the Bird Buddy worth it?
Absolutely! "With the Bird Buddy smart bird feeder, I have a great collection of video and photo postcards of birds taken on my own feeder and others which have been identified for me," said our tester. "I don't have to be glued to the window, and can even watch the feeder live from the app, always staying connected to my vibrant visitors."
Our experts like that Bird Buddy’s website is designed to help users get the most out of the feeder, including instructions for cleaning and caring for it, as well as tips for discouraging unwanted visitors like squirrels.
We like that Bird Buddy encourages us to notice and care for the nature around us. Reddit’s r/BirdBuddy community of 13,000 members and Facebook's Bird Buddy group with nearly 100,000 followers not only share photos but also review and comment about the feeder’s functionality, which seems to drive product development. It's clear that Bird Buddy owners love their product and enjoy the photos they can share, and our experts share their enthusiasm.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
The Good Housekeeping Institute Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab tests all things home-related, including outdoor products used in the care and maintenance of gardens and yards. Dan DiClerico brings more than 25 years of experience to his role as director of the Lab, having reviewed thousands of products for Good Housekeeping, as well as brands like Consumer Reports and This Old House.
