Birdfy has discounted Netvue’s Birdfy Feeder, a camera-equipped bird feeder for people who want backyard wildlife alerts without turning the patio into a charging dock. The bundle is listed at $149.99 during Birdfy’s midyear sale, down from a $259.99 list price, according to The Verge’s Sheena Vasani.
Vasani reported that the sale covers multiple Birdfy smart feeders at discounts of up to 40 percent, and that this particular Birdfy Feeder deal is the product’s second-best price to date. The advertised savings on the bundle come to $110.
The package includes the feeder, a solar panel and AI bird identification without an added subscription, according to Birdfy’s listing as reported by The Verge. That last part is the hook: plenty of connected cameras are cheap until the cloud and recognition features start nibbling at your card every month.
What the feeder actually does
The Birdfy Feeder uses a wide-angle 1080p camera to show birds visiting the feeder, with color night vision for after-dark viewing. It sends motion notifications to the Birdfy app, where owners can open a live feed or view short recorded clips, according to the product details cited by The Verge.
The AI feature is pitched as a classifier for backyard visitors. Birdfy says it can identify more than 6,000 bird species and can also flag squirrels and other animals. Mechanically, that means the camera sees motion, the app alerts the owner, and the identification system attempts to label whatever triggered the clip. That is useful if the alert came from an actual warbler, less charming if it was a squirrel doing squirrel crimes.
The feeder is IP65 rated, which indicates protection against dust and water jets, and it has a 1.5-liter seed container. The larger hopper is meant to reduce refill trips, though actual refill frequency will depend on how many birds, squirrels and freeloading mammals find it.
Solar helps, sunlight still has to show up
The included solar panel is meant to reduce manual battery charging. The Verge notes that the feeder should avoid frequent hand-charging as long as the panel receives enough sun. That caveat is doing real work: shaded yards, winter weather and poor mounting angles are not solved by putting the word solar on the box.
Birdfy also offers both local and cloud video storage options for the feeder, according to the report. The company includes three months of free cloud storage with the purchase.
The deal is available through Birdfy’s own store for the solar-powered bundle. As with any connected camera, buyers should check the current storage terms, app requirements and privacy settings before bolting it near a window and inviting the internet into the bird feeder.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
