Review: Bird Buddy's Hummingbird Feeder and Accessories Put Nature at Your Fingertips

[BeerDrinkerDan]

I've had the best luck with a baffle and just putting it far from where the squirrels can jump. Though I do have a Squirrel Buster Feeder that's close to my window for my cat. For whatever reason, the birds don't like it as much, and it's kind of annoying because it doesn't do well with larger seed.

The same baffle I bought 15+ years ago remains undefeated to this day. Every once in a while - maybe once per year - a squirrel attempts to climb up the pole, but the baffle stymies them every time. As long as a squirrel can't jump from somewhere else, as they could in the AI-looking pic at the top of this article, a baffle works perfectly.

-bdd

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I've got a bird feeder like this, given to me as a Christmas gift last year. The novelty of the feeder wears off after a couple weeks, especially if you live in a region where there are limited varieties of birds because looking at the same 3-5 types of birds is cool at first, then not so much. Plus, you wind up turning off notifications because, well, birds feed all day long! And any of the cooler features (AI) cost money.

I suppose if you live in an area with 20+ different bird species and they're colorful, beautiful birds, it might be fun to use. But where I live, it's just sparrows and finches and about 5 different one.

Not to mention it doesn't take long for the feral cats to realize the feeder is a great place to catch a quick "snack", then fewer and fewer birds so up.

 

[jclo]

These are pretty cool and I’m considering getting one next spring. However you should proofread your articles. “Tricker”. “Bird Buddy recommends six tablespoons of water dissolved in 1.5 cups of water.” And I didn’t even read the entire thing so there may be more errors.

Ohhh no. Believe it or not, I did read it a few times and a co-worker also looked it over. We do proofread everything that goes up, but brains are tricky. There are times when I can read an article 10x and there's a missing word or a typo, but I'm autocorrecting the error as I read and I don't even notice it.

That should be sugar, and I've fixed it now! Thank you for the heads up. Hopefully no other errors!

 

[jclo]

I don't see any video or picture galleries on the company's web site (there are samples scattered through the site). They refer to 2K video and 2K ultra video but they don't document what exactly are the specs of those video streams and what are the differences. (other than the 2K ultra is behind a pay wall). I am guessing they decided to call 1080P video 2K video so that it sounds more impressive and the ultra probably just has less compression applied but that is just a guess.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

Also, when are manufacturers of solar devices such as these going to learn that sometimes the solar panel needs to be placed in a different spot than the device itself. If the device is in the shade, it would be nice to have a solar panel that could be moved 8-10 ft away to a place in a sunny area.

-kp

I didn't want to focus too much on the paid features because in my last review, people came away with the impression that you have to pay a subscription fee.

I did subscribe for a couple of months, and I think the grey catbird photo in my review is one that was with 2K Ultra turned on. If you look at it, it has more detail than it should. Like it had a sharpen filter applied. I think it's higher bitrate combined with some extra post processing. I didn't always like the effect.

If you want, I can re-subscribe this weekend when I refill the Bird Buddy and try to get some similar comparison shots for you in 2K and 2K ultra modes.

As for solar, the Bird Buddy charges with USB-C, so you could definitely just get a third-party solar panel that you can put in a sunny area. I'm guessing companies don't want people to have to deal with the cords?

Edit: Totally forgot to say, Bird Buddy photos I've saved have a resolution of 1944 x 2592, videos are 1536 x 2048. So it's definitely 2K.

 

[kpluck]

If you want, I can re-subscribe this weekend when I refill the Bird Buddy and try to get some similar comparison shots for you in 2K and 2K ultra modes.

That is very kind but hold off on that. I will just contact the company by email and see what they say. I will report back any info I get. 🍻

 

[Jaro65]

I have the Bird Buddy feeder and have been enjoying watching the birds. I don't pay for the subscription and don't necessarily see a need to do so. The only problem I'm having is that I get a lot of birds interested in it, and so it's empty in three days or so. The Bird Buddy 2 is supposed to double the seed storage capacity, which would be handy. This is a nice product overall.

 

[Digital Dude]

Thank goodness, because I was running out of things to buy. I like hummingbirds, but I’m not sure I want to deal with cameras, batteries, and bandwidth issues. 🙄