![]() Taking down the Bird Buddy to recharge the camera module is a great opportunity to clean the feeder and refill the reservoir using the included bird seed cup. The battery lasted about a week of regular use, as did my fancy mix of dry foods. After you've chosen your keepers, you can decide to share them publicly with the Bird Buddy community within the app, or save them to your private collection. Having the Bird Buddy has been an amazing experience for all of us at home seeing the birds up close and personal like the Bird Buddy captures them has been educational and highly entertaining.Įach time a new visitor comes - of the avian or rodent variety - the Bird Buddy app sends you what it calls "postcards", which include a bit of information of the visitor, a video, and ten photos that you can pick and choose from to decide which to keep. The same tufted titmouse came by many times since the Bird Buddy was up, his name is now Walter with sporadic visits from others, like a yellow-rumped warbler and, you guessed it, at least one squirrel. The Bird Buddy didn't record or take pictures until the third day it was up, but once it got started, it rarely missed a visitor. The Bird Buddy also can't take pictures of visitors while the feed is open. But this can diminish the battery life and it takes up to two minutes to load up. The app lets you check the camera feed in the settings, to ensure everything is set up and working properly. Screenshot of the Bird Buddy app showing the first time it caught Walter on camera. The tufted titmouse came by at least four times on the second day the Bird Buddy was up, but the camera never caught a snapshot of it. I thought maybe it didn't hang around long enough for the camera to wake up, but it was there for at least 20-30 seconds. But nope, the app didn't have any photos as if it never happened. When the titmouse came back that same day, I thought, 'okay, this is it, it's going to catch it now'. I gave it a few minutes and then checked my Bird Buddy app to see the surely-beautiful photos of my new best friend, but there was only an animation of a tiny bird bouncing a ball waiting, with the words "Nothing to see here" - the camera didn't snap a single picture. Whether he drew the short straw among his bird friends or came of his own accord, I was too excited to care. A beautiful tufted titmouse approached warily, probably trying to determine if all the fancy food I put out was real or if there was a trap somewhere. The second day the bird feeder was out, we had our first successful contact. An entire day passed with nothing, not a single visitor. Once the Bird Buddy was up and running, I watched impatiently from my office window, waiting for the first visitor. This is an obvious challenge for a device designed to be placed outside, but it's something to keep in mind before buying. The Bird Buddy uses Wi-Fi to connect to your account and send you the captured photos and videos, which means it needs to be within Wi-Fi range to do so. This choice was mainly because I can see it from my desk, where I sit pretty much all day, and I've seen many birds exploring those bushes, so I knew it was already a bird hotspot. Maria Diaz | ZDNETįor placement, I chose a holly bush that sits right outside my home office window. CloseĪ yellow-rumped warbler paying a visit. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. ![]() ![]() We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. ![]()
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