Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterTop pickThis bird feeder captures visitors in 2K video, provides fun and interesting trivia about your feathered friends, and has an active in-app community.For the budding bird lover, the Birdbuddy Pro is cute and compact, and it captures wonderfully detailed images and video, allows for longer video clips, and provides more elaborate information about feathered friends. The camera has a narrower viewing angle than that of the Netvue Birdfy Feeder, it misses some bird encounters, and its feed hopper is smaller. However, it keeps smartphone notifications manageable, and Birdbuddy’s social network is an attractive feature, providing a window into feeders from around the world and letting you know exactly what you are watching and where it is.The image quality is terrific. The Birdbuddy Pro can record 2K video and 5-megapixel photos, with options for close-ups with a 115-degree viewing angle or a wide view of 122 degrees. It produces noticeably beautiful colors and sharp detail on feathers, beaks, and talons. If you have a cap on your data or an unstable connection, you can opt to record at 720p or 1080p.Cloud storage is lengthy and free. The Birdbuddy Pro captures Postcards of each visit, including photos and video. The number of photos you receive varies based on the visit, and video clips are up to one minute, longer than the clips from any other model we tested. If you want to hang on to footage of a specific visit, you have seven days to save the video or photos to your in-app Collection with a tap, though it caps free cloud storage at 20GB, which a Birdbuddy rep told us is approximately 2,500 Postcards. For unlimited storage, you can subscribe to Birdbuddy Premium ($8 per month or $70 per year). Rachel Cericola and Jason Toledo/NYT WirecutterIt spouts more facts than a bird-trivia night. The Birdbuddy Pro can identify about 13,000 species, so it provides more than just fun bird pics — it offers an educational aspect, too. When it captures an image, you receive a smartphone notification and an in-app trivia tease about that species. Tapping the diamond icon next to that blurb opens Nature Chat, an AI-powered chat feature that allows you to ask questions. For instance, I asked whether my visiting sparrow was male or female (it was a female), what color schemes were common for the species (grays, browns, and blacks), and whether I could expect to see them over the winter in New England (yes!).Saving birds to your Collection stores photos and videos and organizes birds by type, timeline, or number of visits. Tapping an entry then opens saved photos and videos, appearances by that species in the Birdbuddy community, and an endless amount of information, including breeding and nesting habits, food preferences, preservation tips, FAQs, and audio clips. Since the camera has a short battery life, we recommend the version of the Birdbuddy Pro feeder with a solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterIt has a lively community. The Birdbuddy app gives you a few ways to see birds beyond your backyard. Under the Cameras tab, BB Explore allows you to receive videos and photos of interesting birds from feeders from around the world.Another tab in the app, labeled BB TV, provides endless bird action via publicly shared videos from owners all over the world. Unfortunately, you can’t interact with other birders, but BB Explore does allow you to save videos to your phone, post to social media, or text to friends.The subscription may be worth the money. Some of the smart feeder’s features are limited without a Birdbuddy Premium subscription. For instance, the subscription bumps image quality up to 2K Ultra, which captures higher-quality videos via an uncapped bit rate. Free users are capped at 20GB of storage, while paid subscribers can save an unlimited number of clips and photos. Free users are limited to one Nature Chat question per day, while Premium subscribers have access to unlimited questions. With BB Explore, which lets you browse video from Birdbuddy cameras around the world, free-plan users can tag one camera to follow and receive updates from, and they also get 72-hour access to view the feeds of two additional cameras; Premium users are able to tag two cameras and get 72-hour access to a third.You won’t get alerted about every visit — on purpose. In our tests, this feeder delivered fewer notifications than our runner-up. I wasn’t sure whether this was by chance or due to an error, so I set up a security camera nearby to confirm. Sure enough, I found that the Birdbuddy Pro was missing a substantial number of visits from birds. But a company rep explained that it’s intentional: The AI is set to filter out the bad shots and keep only the best of the best.After long-term testing both of our top feeders, I’ve come to the conclusion that fewer notifications can be a good thing, because when there’s a free lunch, birds tend to come early and often — and all of those notifications would drive you bananas. You can enable Frenzy mode for more notifications and more action.The Birdbuddy Pro feeder is compact, with an integrated, fixed camera and an optional snap-on solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterThe Birdbuddy feeder is compact, with an integrated, fixed camera and an optional snap-on solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterThe Birdbuddy feeder is compact, with an integrated, fixed camera and an optional snap-on solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterThe Birdbuddy feeder is compact, with an integrated, fixed camera and an optional snap-on solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterThe Birdbuddy Pro feeder is compact, with an integrated, fixed camera and an optional snap-on solar roof. Michael Hession/NYT WirecutterIt’s cute but also tough. At 9 by 6.3 by 6.89 inches, the Birdbuddy Pro feeder is more compact than the other models we tested. We recommend investing in the solar version, because I found that the battery life is just two or three weeks otherwise. Its solar panel doesn’t add to its footprint, either, since that component is integrated into a snap-on roof. You need to place it where it gets a decent amount of sunlight. It looks more like a typical birdhouse, rather than a device with a bulky high-tech accessory.It’s easy to install, but you may need extras. The Birdbuddy Pro feeder comes already assembled; just charge the included camera and pop it into the feeder, and you’re ready to peep. It comes with a metal hanger so that you can hang it from a tree or deck, as well as an adapter for use with a pole mount (though you have to supply the pole). I recommend adding the perch, but I have not tested the wall mount, the hummingbird feeder, and some of the other add-ons.It’s easy to clean. Birds are wild animals, and they’re especially wild during a feeding frenzy. Thankfully, the Birdbuddy Pro is especially easy to clean. Unlike with the Netvue Birdfy Feeder, everything on the Birdbuddy Pro pops apart easily, and the camera is removable, with no need for tools.Flaws but not dealbreakersIt doesn’t track nighttime visitors. Unlike the Netvue Birdfy Feeder, the Birdbuddy Pro does not have night vision and goes into sleep mode during nighttime hours.The feeder is not easy to fill — and you may be doing that often. The Birdbuddy model’s seed bin holds just under 1 liter, a third less than our runner-up. It’s also not as easy to fill, as you have to use a small flip-down window around the back.Privacy and security snapshotBirdbuddy may share data with third parties, as outlined in section “4.4.3 Our processors/service providers” in its privacy policy.Birdbuddy may occasionally process personal data for the purposes of complying with legal requirements and other regulations.All location data collected is “non-precise.” The data serves to help identify bird species and may be shared with third-party processors in relation to storage of AI-related services.Birdbuddy does not offer two-factor authentication, although a username and password are required for use of the app.For more details, read Birdbuddy’s privacy statement.
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