It is widely known that Australia has some of the most diverse and unique wildlife in the entire world. According to Avibase, Australia has nearly 1000 bird species in our skies. By marrying modern technology and creative designs, Birdfy has created a number of products to help us enjoy these wild birds while also helping them feed and nest. Today we will be taking an in depth look at their Bamboo Feeder Mini camera equipped bird feeder.
First Impressions
The Birdfy Bamboo Feeder mini comes neatly packed in small boxes, and while the feeder itself comes in once piece, some assembly is required.
Beyond the Bamboo Bird Feeder Mini, the package contains a perch extension; Two manual booklets covering six languages; An app download card and a Quick Start guide. Three smaller boxes nested inside contain the camera, solar panel (and mount), while the third box contains mounting paraphernalia.
Whilst using mostly natural 100% Forest Stewardship Council Certified Bamboo, the Bird Feeder Mini has a very modern style to it. The dual tone and right angle lid looks classy in modern and understated way.
The lid which covers the top of the seed bins latches on securely using a brass coloured cabinet door catch. The centrally located camera housing has a large cut-out for the camera and has a downward opening door that is also secured by a sturdy brass catch.
A sheet of clear Perspex sits in front of the seed bins, allowing you to easily see how much of the 1.9L seed capacity is available. Beneath the seed bin is an angled mesh plate which allows the seeds to breath and of course, to slide down to the waiting avian guests. The built in perch juts out about 5.5cm but can be extended to over 12cm by adding the included extended perch.
The Bamboo Feeder Mini is quite solid in hand, and at 1.9kg empty, has some heft to it. On the rear is a heavy duty hanger and a small hole for the camera cable to feed through.
The installation package contains a fabric belt; a short USB-C to USB-A cable; wall mounting plate with template; screws, anchors and a screwdriver, and four worm gear hose clamps in two sizes.
Other than the panel itself, the solar panel box contains everything you need to mount your solar panel: A small bendable arm; a wall mounting plate (with mounting template); more screws and anchor points along with two more hose clamps. A small quick start guide is also included. The solar panel measures 12cm x 17cm and comes with a permanently connected USB-C cable that is just under 3m long.
The camera is a solid block, with a black face housing the camera and IR lights, while the rest of the body is finished in gloss white. The top of the camera has a weather proof seal hiding away the power button, MicroSD card slot and the USB-C charging port. The rear has an antenna receptacle as well as what looks to be a screw in mounting hole which isn’t put to use with the Bamboo Mini Feeder. Beyond this, the camera is otherwise unremarkable and weighs in at 225g.
With an overall height of roughly 25cm and a width and depth of 22cm and 25cm (without the extended perch), the Bamboo Feeder Mini is a really nice size and makes for a neat package.
SET UP
Using the QR code included in the packaging, we used our phone to downloaded the Birdfy app. While we used the Apple variety, an Android app is also available, if you swing that way. After quickly creating an account, we began pairing the camera.
Pressing down on the power button on the top of the camera resulted in a loud chime, followed by the LED turning blue and flashing. Following the prompts on the app, we scanned the QR code and entered our wifi credentials. We were then prompted to scan another QR code – from the app this time, using the Birdfy camera itself – to which the camera cheerfully announced, “Connection succeeded.”
Upon connecting, we were immediately greeted with a firmware upgrade which we applied. From the camera announcing “Upgrade in process” to “Upgrade success” took no more than five minutes.
The pairing process was a little convoluted, requiring a number of QR code scans but within ten to fifteen minutes, we were up and running.
The app then provided a few short clips of how to physically install the camera and reminding us to install the (optional) perch extension.
A few notes on the process: Firstly, your phone must be connected to a 2.4Ghz wifi network. Secondly, a Birdfy account is required to access the camera and most notably, the app requires your location settings to be on during setup – Thankfully, this can later be disabled once your are up and running.
For testing purposes, we decided to install the Bamboo Feeder Mini on some wooden lattice on our front porch. To do this, we used the included strap. While the installation kit comes with more permanent hardware for fixing to walls, using the strap meant no permanent drilling and the ability to quickly move the feeder should the location prove to be unsuitable.
Once strapped onto the lattice, we ran the solar panel cable though the small hole at the back of the Feeder Mini and plugged it into the camera. Pretty easy, really.
FEEDING TIME
Once mounted, we filled the Bamboo Mini feeder with Australian Native bird mix and phone in hand, we waited.
And waited.
After a week or so of no avian visitors, we decided to relocate the Bamboo Feeder mini to a more bird friendly location.
And again, we waited.
A few days later a notification appeared on our phone screen to tell us we had finally gotten our first visitor!
Over the next few days we were bombarded with notifications of birds using the feeder. While the notification settings can be reduced, we enjoyed seeing what the wildlife was doing – even when we were interstate!
The Birdfy app is relatively simple allowing its features to be accessed quickly and easily. It allows you to scroll back through *Moments* which is a record of all the video captured. Within the app, sensitivity can be reduced to avoid recording false positives and notification can be customised from being notified for any movement, through to only when rare or new birds visit.
Beyond seeing (and sharing) your own *moments*, you can also view other users videos too. The app also collects data on your visitors, and using the built in AI identification system (which can be purchased as a monthly or upfront lifetime subscription), can tell you which species of birds visited and how often.
We did find the AI recognition was a little hit and miss with our Australian visitors, with pigeons sometimes being recognised as “European Starlings,” but hopefully with more Australian data, the AI can improve.
An AI chat-bot known as Joy the bird expert is also baked into the app, which can answer all your bird related questions.
Overall, we found the app was very easy to use, with a simple and relatively intuitive interface with plenty of interesting bird related content.
Image quality was good and the 2 Mega-pixel camera allowed us to see birds in detail with relatively smooth movement, especially considering this was a completely wireless camera system. Via the built in Infra-red lights, night vision too was also quite good, although we didn’t have any birds visit at night time!
Something that really impressed us was the battery life/solar charging. While the wintery weather wasn’t ideal for solar charging, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the battery life always hovered between 90-100% throughout our initial testing. It is worth noting though, as our feeder grew more and more popular (and the weather grew drearier), the charge rate did eventually begin to drop. After a week or so of intense bird activity (over 170 moments a day!) it finally dropped to zero, requiring a manual mains recharge.
While we are not particularly obsessed with birds, the whole experience was very rewarding and it was nice to see what birds frequented our garden. We now look forward to seeing which birds are visiting the feeder and excited to see if any new first time visitors make an appearance!
SELECTED SPECS
Dimensions: 22.5 x 25 x 24cm
Seed Bin Capacity: 1.9L
Material: FSC Certified Bamboo
Camera Resolution: 2PM/1080p
Two-Way Audio: Microphone and Speaker
Network: Wifi 2.4Ghz
Night Vision: Infrared & White-light
Battery: 5200mAh
Operating Temperature: -20 to 50℃
For a full list of technical specifications, please visit Birdfy’s Bamboo Feeder Mini product page.
CONCLUSION
As a sub-brand of Netvue Technologies, Birdfy has actually been innovating in the smart home device space for over 20 years and it shows. The camera produced images that were good enough for the task – They weren’t 8K HD but they did show plenty of detail and movement to be enjoyable – and we found the connectivity worked well in our particular environment.
Unlike me, my late father was obsessed with birds and it is with a little sadness that I say that he would’ve loved this product. Providing bird lovers with a way to feed and be able to see birds close up via video link is genius and Birdfy’s Bamboo Feeder Mini has made this an easy and wholly enjoyable experience.
The Bamboo Feeder Mini is available direct from the Birdfy website for a discounted price of $366AUD (with an optional monthly subscription) or $427AUD with a lifetime AI Recognition subscription.
