Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy

Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy
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For Christmas this year I decided to give myself one of those snazzy smart bird feeders that come with a camera and Internet. There are two well-known, name brand camera bird feeders: Bird Buddy, and Birdfy by Netvue. After extensive research I went with the Birdfy; here’s why. Plus, how I mounted it free-standing on my deck.

Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy

First, What is a “Smart Bird Feeder”?

Smart bird feeders seemed to explode in popularity in the past year, although both Bird Buddy and Birdfy launched in 2020. It makes sense – lots of people were staying home in 2020 (Covid) and so the time was ripe to introduce a new product that anyone could set up at home and that was entertaining. Enter the webcam-enabled bird feeder. Add AI recognition of the birds that the camera was seeing and the things almost sold themselves.

When a bird arrives at your feeder, it triggers a motion sensor in the camera, and the camera starts recording a short video clip; the length of the video depends on how long the bird stays, and also which smart feeder you have. The Birdfy camera records 20 seconds by default, and there is an upsell to add 10 seconds, bringing it up to 30 seconds. The Bird Buddy will record for up to 60 seconds.

Recording Time and Batteries

Now, you may think that being able to record for a full minute is a big deal, however I have found that 20 seconds is plenty long enough, especially after you get over the initial thrill of seeing your bird videos. But more to the point, that extra 30 to 40 seconds is going to chew up your battery time.

And speaking of batteries, the cameras for each of the Bird Buddy and the Birdfy are, of course, battery operated. Each brand offers models with a built-in or accessory solar panel (of course these cost more). Otherwise you have to remove the camera and bring it inside every so often to charge it.

Bird Identification AI

At the time that I was shopping, one of the big upsells for each brand was the AI recognition, and various offers from both brands offered “lifetime AI” included for some models but not for others. In other words, some Bird Buddy feeders included lifetime AI, while others required a payment for the AI. Same with the Netvue Birdfy models – some included lifetime AI, others did not.

So, in order to eliminate the AI question from the equation, I decided to see if there were a way to identify birds even if the bird feeder had no AI at all. And it turns out that there is a very easy way to do so: the feeders each take pictures of your feathered visitors, and there is a mobile app called Merlin which is put out by the Cornell University ornithology lab. It’s extremely easy to use the Merlin app to identify your birds, you just select the picture from your phone, and Merlin does the rest.

Of course, I do use the AI recognition, but it helped during the selection process to know there was an alternative way to identify birds so that I wasn’t sucked in by the AI upsell.

How the Birdfy and Bird Buddy Smart Birdfeeders Work

Smart birdfeeders contain a camera that connects to your wireless network to upload and store your videos and images in their cloud service. The camera also connects to your phone by bluetooth in order to send you notifications.

   Smart Birdfeeder Notifications
birdfy notifications Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy

The camera captures both video and still photos, which are stored in the cloud (via your wifi), and which you can view on and download to your phone via bluetooth.

I love how the camera sometimes capture birds in midflight!
birds in midflight Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy

 
 

Spotted Towee at my feeder

 
 

I love this Flicker’s vocalizing! (Sound on!)

 
 

Which One I Chose

After a great deal of research and comparison I decided to get the Netvue Birdfy, for the following reasons:

1. First and foremost, while they only launched the Birdfy smart feeder in 2020, Netvue itself has been around since 1996, and they started out as a home security system business. This gives me a lot more confidence in their privacy practices, and the security of their camera systems, than I have in Bird Buddy, who just started out in 2020, with a Kickstarter.

2. There are considerably more reports of various issues with battery life with the Bird Buddy than with the Birdfy (probably largely related to that 60 second recording time).

3. People raved about Netvue’s (Birdfy’s) customer service.

4. I specifically went with the Birdfy Bamboo feeder because I am trying hard to avoid plastic as much as possible, and I have to imagine that pecking at plastic isn’t good for the birds. At least at the time of this writing, Bird Buddy offered only plastic feeders. Plus, the Birdfy Bamboo feeder is really attractive and, as an added bonus, comes with a solar panel included.

Birdfy Bamboo Birdfeeder
Birdfy Bamboo Birdfeeder Honest Non-Monetized Review of the Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder and Why I Chose it Over the Bird Buddy

 
 

Mounting a Bird Feeder Free-Standing on a Deck or Patio

Both feeders come with all the mounting gear and hardware you need to mount your smart feeder on a tree, or a pole, or a shepherd’s hook.

But I needed a way to mount it free-standing on my deck. So here’s what I did.

First, please excuse the none-too-perfect picture. I only realized that the feeder was a bit crooked after I took it, and now it’s too cold and snowy to bother with adjusting it.

In this picture you can see the Birdfy Bamboo feeder attached to a free-standing pole, along with the solar panel, also attached to the pole. I absolutely love that the Birdfy comes with everything – and I do mean everything – that you might conceivably need to attach the feeder and the solar panel to just about anything you can imagine.

smart birdfeeder mounted free-standing on pole on deck or patio

What I did was I ordered a weighted patio umbrella base, and a bird feeder pole (meant to be stuck in the ground but the pointy end is detachable). Then I attached the bird feeder to that pole. It works wonderfully!

The squirrel baffle (the conical thing part way up the pole) does work to keep squirrels from getting to the feeder!

Here are the links to the base, pole, and squirrel baffle (NOT affiliate links!):

Base: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025VP5J8/

Pole: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D54NZNMH/

Squirrel baffle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010QD5QO/

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