Review: Birdfy smart bird feeder with camera

You don’t have to be a birder to enjoy the relaxing sound of birdsong in your yard. Birds can bring life and cheerfulness to your space and the easiest way to get more of that is with a feeder. And what’s becoming even more popular than a standard birdfeeder is a smart birdfeeder with built-in camera, like the Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder Cam from Netvue. This lets you see who is visiting your yard at any time of day and it creates a photo and video record for you to enjoy whenever you want. I recently received a test sample from Netvue to install and try out here. I’ll show you what you’re getting with this purchase, how it works, what the set up and battery life is like, and I’ll wrap things up with the pros and cons to let you know if I think I can recommend this smart birdfeeder concept to you.

A quick note that while NetVue provided this sample to me at no charge, it did not make any requests about the content of my review so these thoughts are 100% my own.

Whats in the box?

When you unbox this package you’re going to find a lot of stuff. You’ll get the main feeder unit which has the camera pre-installed, and perhaps not surprisingly the camera is IP65 weatherproof since it will be used outdoors. The camera itself is not removable from the feeder, but with this kit, that’s not a problem since there is also a solar panel kit with flexible mount. There’s also a roof-lid for the feeder, and perch, as well as several mounting options including clips for attaching your feeder to a pole, post, wall mounting it, or even wrapping it around a tree.

I have to say I am extremely impressed by all of the options available for virtually any type of installation situation. This differs greatly from at least one other product I’ve tried, Bird Buddy, which only offers very limited installation options.

I will say it would be nice if Netvue included a small sample bag of birdseed so I could fill it right away, but like other feeders on the market it’s up to you to bring the seed to your yard.

Set up & installation

You will need to assemble a few parts to get your feeder ready but fortunately this is easy and takes just seconds; snap the lid on first. The roof doubles as a flip-top lid for the feeder, making it incredibly easy to fill. Next up you’ll attach the perch which goes in with a small thumb screw.

While the box says to download the Netvue app, the company let me know  after my review that there is also a second app specifically for the feeder, called Birdfy app.  I used the Netvue app to connect the feeder and camera to my home’s Wi-Fi. Set up was very easy with just a few taps and I was connected to my feeder in a matter of minutes. Definitely high-fives for an easy set up process. The dedicated Birdfy app has some additional features.

You’ll want to install the feeder somewhere you can ensure you’re going to get reliable Wi-Fi from your house, so try to keep it within range.

For my installation I opted to use the tree mount; with this you’ll use an L-shaped bracket and Velcro band to wrap around your tree. The mount is actually quite secure and holds the feeder firmly in place—even during a recent furious windstorm

Solar Panel & battery

The solar panel being included in this package is pure genius; once connected you will never have to worry about taking your feeder down to recharge it. The solar panel connects into the back of the feeder using a USB-C cable, and the flexible rubber mount allows you to hang the solar panel or wrap it around a branch. It’s actually a really great option for mounting.

Since I did opt to install the solar panel with the feeder, I can confirm it works perfectly and my battery never went below a full charge.

Filling is super easy

Filling the feeder is extremely easy; just unlatch the back of the roof and tip it forward to fill from the top. The seed will flow into the feeder at the base and then stack up in the plastic hopper behind the camera. There’s no need to tip the feeder to fill and absolutely no spillage during the process.

The feeder holds a large amount of seed; about 1.5 L. While that may seem like a lot, it actually didn’t last me much more than a day once I started getting regular bird visitors.

Because the base tray is wide-open and lets the seed flow unfettered, just turned the feeder into an open birdseed buffet with nothing to meter the seed flow.

Optional seed tray cover

It was then I found out Netvue actually sells an optional base plate that you can use to cover the trade and slow access to the seed. It does cost an additional $24US but I think it’s pretty much mandatory if you don’t want to be filling the feeder every day which I definitely had to do before I got the cover.

I think the wide open tray is a bit of a design flaw that could be upgraded in a future version of this feeder, and I hope Netvue will start including it as part of the package in the near future. Otherwise from my testing I found the birds from greedily inhaling every last seed in just eight hours.

With the camera connected and full of seed it was time to watch the birds.

Cloud recording or Micro SD

One of the things I really appreciate about this feeder is the option of taking advantage of the Netvue cloud recording feature or simply installing a microSD card (not included) and recording your video there.

I think one of the great things about this product is that they are not trying to rope you into paying a monthly subscription fee after you buy the camera. The camera will store a limited amount of videos and photos; 10 second clips for 30 days at no cost to you. You can also add AI bird recognition but I’m not clear if this is at additional charge or is now included with the package, as I was able to access this feature.
Camera & video quality

The HD video camera in the feeder has motion detection built-in. That means anytime a bird approaches the feeder apron or perch, it will capture video automatically. The camera has a 135° wide viewing angle so you can really see from side to side across the feeder. Because the camera is well placed in the middle of the feeder you get a really full top to bottom view as well.

I found the quality was quite good. While I would love to see a 4K or ultra high resolution version of this feeder one day, the current quality is more than enough to easily see and identify any visitors to your feeder. While this camera can become a touch washed out in brighter light, for the most part it provides a great window onto your feathered friend visit.

Security camera too

The camera surprisingly also has the ability to give you a live view, plus it has full colour night vision, a siren, and two way audio, meaning you can also use this as a security camera to some extent.

With that said, trying to use this as a security camera was a little on the disappointing side. It wasn’t easy to capture or identify people unless they were right up close to the camera and I found the night vision not very clear. Now, of course, home security is not the primary purpose of this camera; it’s meant to capture birds. So it’s hard to deduct points for this. Perhaps just something to be aware of, and I would recommend that if you are in the market for more of a security surveillance device, to choose a camera that is purpose built for that.

Accessing your videos

To access your bird videos you’ll go to the app and look for your camera, then tap the notification bell. This will provide a list of all recent events by date. You can tap on each event to view it in more detail.

10-second video clips are stored in the app for up to 30 days (no subscription needed), or alternatively, you can set up that local storage using a microSD card.

AI Bird recognition

You also have the option of viewing Netvue’s AI photos, which takes a still from the video and analyzes it and will tell you exactly what type of birds are visiting your feeder.

I use this camera in my yard for about a month. I captured plenty of birds on the camera, those sadly they were mainly sparrows, finches, and doves. I didn’t see any exotic birds, but that’s not Netvue’s fault.

As far as my limited bird recognition knowledge goes, the camera seemed to identify the birds that visited accurately.

Overall review

Overall I have to say this is the best smart birdfeeder camera I have reviewed so far. It comes with all the accessories you need including the solar panel, has a lot of great features, and the minor downsides it does have don’t take away from its overall usefulness or enjoyment. Plus it’s a lot more affordable than some other options.

On the pro side, the assembly, set up an installation are super easy and quick and with many mounting options included it’s easy to place it anywhere.

I’m a huge fan of the solar panel being included since this means I never need to charge the camera. With free short-clip cloud recording or the option of using a microSD card, I never have to worry about paying monthly fees either. I think the design is super cute in the video quality is quite good and the AI bird recognition seems accurate. The videos are wide screen and clear and the fact you can use I security camera in a pinch is also a bit of a plus, even if that feature is somewhat lacking.

On the downside, I would love to see the open feeding tray redesigned a little bit so that it is not so easily accessible. During my testing birds flooded to the feeder and it needed refilling pretty much every day. That gets expensive and becomes a bit of a chore. I did later learn about the tray cover which restrict access to the seed and prevent spills, but at this moment that comes out an extra cost.

Also, I found that the camera was not good at picking up people or motion at any kind of distance from the camera. Not really a problem since this is primarily meant to capture birds perched right in front of it, but if you are hoping for some security camera use out of it you will be disappointed.

In short, I am a big fan of the Birdfy smart feeder cam and I think this is the only one to get if you’re hoping to add more birds to your life and your yard.

Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder Cam from Netvue sells for about $199USD or $205CAD and that is significantly less than some other competitors. You can get one from Netvue, Walmart or Amazon. You can also find the optional seed tray cover  or hummingbird feeder attachment separately on Amazon.

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