Internet Connection: You’ll need to have a strong internet connection to upload the audio and video from your bird cam in real time.We’ll go over these in more depth later in the article. Steaming Software: You’ll also need streaming software, also known as an encoder, which takes the audio and video from your bird cam to your computer and then transmits it to the streaming platform you choose to host your video on.We’ll go over how to pick the right camera in the next section. Camera: There are a ton of options when it comes to choosing a wildlife camera for your bird stream.Bird feeder cams can help you gain a deeper understanding of the nature of your local birds, allow you to capture special moments, and, with BirdBot, let you help ornithology and wildlife researchers around the globe! Here’s how to get started streaming your own live bird feeder cam.įor a complete beginner who wants to start live streaming their own bird feeder cam, there are three necessary things to have: a bird cam, streaming software, and a solid internet connection. I didn't test the solar roof, but if it keeps the battery topped up, it would be a welcome addition.Īll in all, it's a great gadget that brings birds closer in a new and fun way.Watching the birds through your window is great, but capturing their visits and sharing them with the world is even better. The $200 price tag feels a little steep to me, though I would guess that everyone's valuation of the Bird Buddy experience varies. If seeing sparrows and chickadees close-up is fun, getting to see hummingbirds that close is going to be even more so.īird Buddy sent me a unit to test. While the novelty will certainly wear off, I'm sure I'll still be glad to have it in another few months or years, even more so if I lived somewhere I could attract a wider variety of birds.Įarlier this month, Bird Buddy announced a hummingbird feeder. It delivers on what it promises and then some. Final thoughtsīird Buddy knocks it out of the park. You can view Bird Buddy photos from feeders around the world, and can also get a taste of that with Bird Buddy's public, real-time tracker of sightings. There's something nice about having a hyperlocal connection with someone over a distance. They are not able to start a live stream (a good move for security purposes) or view older images (there may be a good reason for this, but I don't know it). Guests have to create an account and enter a unique code, but then they'll be able to view any images captured from the time they connect. You can also share your Bird Buddy with up to three people. I did this with the house finch that had been identified as a purple finch. When it thinks it can't make an identification, it'll label the bird as a "mystery visitor." You can then identify these yourself, or send them to an expert who will return an identification right in the app. It's messed up one obvious one, but other than that it's only confused a house finch for a purple finch, a genuinely tricky distinction to make. I've only tested it out on three species - a black-capped chickadee, a house sparrow and a house finch - but it's done a good job. Andrew Blok/CNETįor every image it captures, Bird Buddy uses artificial intelligence to identify the birds in the pictures. Even when I'm deleting photos of birds I've seen a dozen times before, the close-ups of these tiny fluffs make me happy.Ĭhickadees are as cute up close as you'd expect, this Bird Buddy photo shows. Instead of discarding just the occasional blurry one, I'll toss great photos that duplicate ones I've already saved. As it sinks in just how many quality photos of my frequent visitors I now have, I've gotten picky with the photos I keep. Identifying birds with Bird Buddyīird Buddy takes surprisingly crisp photos. I've had the update live for a little over a week and the battery only needed charging once after a week of fairly steady use. This appears to have extended the battery life considerably, a good thing since Bird Buddy said that improved battery life was one of its most requested improvements. (Bird Buddy says the camera can safely operate down to -5 degrees Fahrenheit and up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.)īird Buddy has since updated its software to have the camera enter a "deep sleep" mode during the night. This was also during a period of time when temperatures were near zero, which may have had an effect. When the camera is busy taking pictures of lots of birds, the battery drains quickly. When I first set Bird Buddy up, the battery needed recharging a couple times a week.
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