Bird Spying

For Father's Day, my crew got their dad a smart bird feeder. There are several brands out there: Bird Buddy,Birdify, Chirp Cam, Kiwibit, Birdkiss....just to name a few.

If you aren't sure what a smart bird feeder is, it is somewhat like a regular bird feeder, but on steroids. It typically has a solar panel which powers the camera feature. They typically also are tied to an app which alerts you to the fact that you have a feathered friends at the feeder. Many have both video recording and AI elements to help you both monitor and identify your chirping visitors.

I've got to say--since having ours up in the yard the last few weeks, it completely makes me smile to get these chirpy, little notifications. Our app saves ten second videos of our little feeding flyers, identifying the birds if it can. (Sometimes, based on the length of time or the angle, it'll get marked as "unidentified bird.") 

We have had visits from House Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, Blue Grosbeaks, American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, Eastern Bluebirds, and even a Willow Flycatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Cowbird, and a Morning Dove or two. I get downright giddy when we get a notification that a brand new-to-us bird has stopped by for a visit. 

This bird spying that I've been doing has been a secret win to my summer these past few weeks. I get a little dopamine hit when my phone alerts me that our bird café is busy getting visitors. One day I got 200 notifications--my phone was literally blowing up! Given that, I turned off the notifications for a few days. While I could go into the app and see it whenever I wanted, it wasn't the same. My notifications are now back on again.

In talking with some friends of mine who have their own smart feeders in their yards, the addiction is real. (As is that "you become a birder in your 50s" stereotype.) But apparently what also can be real is the squirrel invasion that follows. Our feeder has a baffle so squirrels have been kept at bay from it. [However, don't get me started on the teething squirrels done to our new Polywood chairs. That's apparently another thing that can be real. That and car hoses and a myriad of other things that squirrels can destroy.... But I digress.]

Part of summer is for basking in the great outdoors and soaking up all sorts of nature adventures. Bird spying is now newly added to my summer joy list. Thanks to our new smart feeder, I’ve got a front‑row seat to all of this happening just beyond my back door.

Images & videos from our back yard, either our Kiwibit camera or my own.