Pros
- Easy to set up
- Great camera quality
- Solar panel included
- Micro SD card included
- Waterproof
- Great night vision
Cons
- Hanging not advisable
- AI sometimes misidentifies birds and animals
Our Rating
8 / 10
Get Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
I like to look out the window and see nature in all its glory, but I rarely see that many birds; I mostly just see squirrels. This made me quite interested to try the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder. I wanted to not only see more birds, but see them up close.
This is a sponsored article and was made possible by BirdKiss. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author, who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored.
Content
- It’s for the Birds!
- Unboxing the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
- Setting Up the Feeder for First Use
- Using the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
- Overall Thoughts of the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
It’s for the Birds!
The Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder not only feeds bird visitors to your home, but also films them with the attached camera. It means no staring out the window all day long waiting to see them – at least, unless you want to.
Along with the bird feeder itself, there’s an accompanying app that will store video footage of your bird adventures. Other features include:
- 1080P HD camera with 135º wide-angle lens
- AI to identify over 10,000 bird species
- High-power white light
- Built-in infrared LED array
- Microphone
- IP65 waterproof design
- 1.25L capacity container
- 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection
- 32GB SD card
- Cloud storage plan
I have many squirrels that I can see roaming around my yard while I look out my window, but I only see a few birds here and there. I wanted to see more birds and hoped the Birdkiss could help me with that.
Unboxing the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
The Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder comes with everything you need – except, of course, the bird seed. The package contains:
- Bird seed container/camera with cover
- Base and hardware
- Bird perch
- External antenna
- Solar panel with mounting kit
- Mounting bracket and hardware
- Strap
- Cup for pouring bird seed
- Fruit holder
- Micro SD card and ejector pin
Assembly of the bird feeder was simple. Insert the container into the grooves and secure it with a provided thumb screw in the back. I had a little difficulty getting it just right. Attach the antenna to the back. Install the perch onto the front of the feeder, and secure it with another of the thumb screws.
The micro SD card is already installed inside the camera. If you rotate the camera downward and remove the silicone plug, you’ll see the slot where the card is stored. There is also a power button that must be turned on before use.
Setting Up the Feeder for First Use
Before installing the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder, install the Vicohome app, register for an account, connect to the network, add the device, register for the cloud service, and initiate the device. It takes a matter of minutes.
Finding the right location for the bird feeder is a very important step. If you choose to power the camera via solar power, you’ll, of course, want a location where you can hang the solar panel in great view of the sun.
Additionally, this isn’t a feeder that would want to “hang” from a tree branch. I was hoping I could, as it would help me avoid the squirrels. The manufacturer says hanging leads to too much shaking for the camera. The options are to mount it to a pole or other stationary item, such as your deck or a tree. We decided to mount it on a tree, secured with the strap, and mount the solar panel on the other side to catch the sun.
The solar panel plugs into a USB-C port on the side of the feeder. You could charge it regularly through the same port, but it would be really difficult, as you wouldn’t want to unmount the container/feeder. To me, the solar panel is the least cumbersome. You’ll want to fully charge the camera indoors first.
The last important step is to lift up the top, pour bird seed into the container, and close the top. Pull the silicone plug at the front of the container for the seed to pour out of so that the birds will have a continuous flow of food.
Using the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
As they say, a watched pot never boils, and that’s how I felt watching the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder, waiting for my first bird. Of course, it was a pesky squirrel who was my first visitor, though the AI identifies him as a “pet,” while my medium-sized dog is referred to as a person.
I shooed the squirrel away, but he came back. I used the microphone to yell at him and blinked the light at him. He always came back. Sometimes he doesn’t even budge. Often, he hangs around on the other side of the tree and waits for me to leave if I physically go out there to scare him off.
I eventually put the silicone plug back in the container so that he couldn’t eat as much as he wanted. He then got crafty and learned how to pull the plug out of the container to get more food. I stopped filling up the container. I just go out every day or so and put some bird seed in the tray.
The first bird to visit my feeder was a cardinal, which the AI correctly identified. The second bird was a sparrow; however, the AI has difficulty identifying this breed of sparrow. It often thinks it is a Bronze Mannikin, a bird found south of the Sahara desert. As I’m in the Chicago area, I don’t think that’s possible.
With the other birds, it is nearly always correct. I have had three species of sparrows, a female and male cardinal pair, a mourning dove, a blackbird, and a redwing blackbird. My most frequent visitors are the cardinals and one particular sparrow. And, of course, the squirrel. The birds seem to have more success scaring him off than I do.
Videos are stored in the cloud and via the SD card. Those on the SD card are stored in a stream, rather than short 7- to 10-second videos. Those in the cloud are downloadable. You can, of course, also view the camera live, and save photos at this point.
The battery life has held out so far with the solar panel. However, after nearly a month of use, the battery is only at 4% currently, after a full day of sun, with the solar panel in the sun for the second half of the day. We have had several rainy/cloudy days, and I think this wore down the battery.
My concern is that I will have another cloudy day that will take it down to 0%. I may have to take my portable charger outside and try to charge it up that way one day. I have added a sleep schedule via the app, hoping that by having the camera sleep during the hours I never see birds will help.
Overall Thoughts of the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder
Overall, I must say that the Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder has added a lot of enjoyment to my life. I don’t need to sit by the window to wait for them, as I can watch them on video, and I feel it has encouraged more birds to frequent our yard.
There are only a few things I wish it had. I wish there were a way to hang it to prevent the squirrel from stopping by and eating all the food, and I wish the AI could always identify visitors correctly.
If you’re a bird lover, you can pick up your own smart bird feeder for $149.99.
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Laura Tucker –
Contributor
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.
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