Bird Buddy reviews and discussion

- Great image quality - Overall a pretty nice app that feels a little bloated in some places and missing some obvious features in others; a lot of room for improvement is nice enough to start - Love how the product looks in my backyard, I'm shallow :) - Battery life started as pretty bad but has improved significantly with updates; it's now 5-7 days, up from about 2 - Don't buy the fence mount; it's just not stable enough - I wish they explained better how the product works up front as that could have made the initial experience much better; it's confusing at the start - Expect to wait for a few days for birds to get used to the new feeder before you start getting postcards

I've been enjoying Bird Buddy for 3 months now and I love it! I never felt closer to birds than I do now and it just keeps getting better. The best thing is you can invite your friends and loved ones to the app to share the experience and I've been chatting with my niece every other day about the birds that we catch. Everybody needs a bird buddy! :)

The short version This is an amazing product and company/team that had such explosive growth that it's completely understandable they've struggled to provide timely support through their recent launch. After owning one for a month I've ordered three more for my extended family and can't wait for them to get one. They've released like 10 updates in a span of 2 months and keep actively engaging with the community through their Facebook group. Bird Buddy is such a wonderful idea and the execution was honestly as good as one can expect for a project that started on Kickstarter. The long version Bird Buddy was a Kickstarter project back in late 2020 that took off like a storm. I backed the project in January 2021 and have followed their journey for the past two years. They have been regularly communicating with the community providing detailed updates on all the challenges and progress as it happened. Building hardware is extremely hard and unpredictable but despite the supply chain issues and COVID they managed to pull it off and actually build something that I can honestly say they should be proud of. Let's dive a little deeper into the different parts that make up a Bird Buddy. The packaging: Comes in beautiful packaing which makes it perfect as a gift. Very easy and intutive to assemble though it lacks any kind of printed instructions. All information is given in their app. Printed instructions would be nice. The hardware: The design is beautiful and sturdy. Will look amazing in your backyard and I think it's one of the pretiest "smart home" devices out there. They sell a bunch of accessories and I've ordered the wall mount and a solar roof. Same as the core product, both are well built, pretty and functional. Havnig said that, the solar roof really doesn't supply enough power to make a big difference to the overall battery life of the deveice right now. My understanding is that they will be rolling out significant battery improvements in a firmware update which could change that impression but right now, it's just not good enough. The photos: They are absolutely beaufitul. The lighting does make a difference so making sure you position it in a way that the birds get adequate exposure is important. But in any case, this is really where the product shines. The app: While the first impression is great and clearly they've put a lot of care into building something that looks nice, there's a lot of room for improvement on the UX side. After a couple of weeks of using it and collecting hundreds of birds, some of the common actions become annoying. I see this sentiment often expressed in their Facebook group and they do keep making steps in the right direction through regular app updates so I'm hopeful that this will see significant improvement over time. Conclusion: I love what's there and it just keeps getting better. Go Bird Buddy!!!

I'm in love with this product and its community!! The photos it takes are absolutely beautiful and while there are rough edges here and there the team behind it is doing an amazing job listening to and improving. I've followed the journey from the beginning and it was and continues to be a blast.

So like many others I waited over a year to get this unit , and upon configuring it found out how cumbersome and difficult that process was . After hours and many retries i got the unit to some what work ? So i thought ,but days and weeks went by with no pictures even though birds were on the feeder ? Also the unit required re-charging everyday which is not what the claimed for battery use [ 3 to 4 days] . After another re-pairing of the unit I got about seven pictures and now the unit will now longer work despite resets and reloading of apps. I reached out to the company for help and then for a replacement , but all I got was a Bucket of Nothing -- radio silence . Still waiting after two weeks for a reply and a replacement unit , but i think I am just another victim in a long line.

The product doesn’t work and there is no support. My birdbuddy needs to be charged daily, removing a screw with a special Allen wrench and then bringing the item inside to charge. I paid extra for the solar roof and it makes no difference. Even when it’s charged, birds land on it and it doesn’t alert me or take photos. I’ve watched more than 20 birds land and eat the bird seed and yet I haven’t gotten a single alert or photo. I’ve emailed support and get canned messages concerning firmware updates (I’ve done all of them and experienced little to no improvement on battery and nothing for functionality). After multiple back and forth emails with support I asked to return it or for a refund and was told I could not return the non-functioning device because it had been opened. Obviously, I wouldn’t know it worked if I hadn’t opened it. So after spending $265 and waiting 20 months to receive this I have nothing but a basic bird feeder. Total wast.

Like all the other reviews, I feel I've been had. It looked like a great idea, and like everyone else I waited almost a year after payment to get the unit -- which doesn't work!!! And service is non-existent. A month after I complained the camera wouldn't work, I got a request for serial number, Android version, etc -- and silence since I replied. I don't want to send the unit back, because evidently those who did never got refunds. I might as well keep it as a stupid bird feeder in the back yard and a constant reminder of what a sucker I was.

I am not going to type a book here. So I will simply provide the high level items. 1. The unit never powered on. 2. Their support is nearly nonexistent. 3. I shipped back the old unit and have been waiting for over a month on getting a new one. I feel like I was broken up with via a text and ghosted. I am still very much hoping I get my new unit and it works. Based upon the Facebook pictures I see people posting it looks like it does in fact work for some and that they are enjoying it. I want to be one of those people!

I've had this bird buddy for 2 months now and cannot get it to work. Multiple issues. If I am lucky enough to get it online, it immediately requires a backup, but the backup always fails (error 6, whatever this is). Bird buddy support is non-existent. What support I did receive early on through emails did not resolve the issue. I've spent hours trying on different phones, different wifi channels and routers. Nothing. It's a brick.

Do your research on this company before spending your hard earned money. Ordered from their website months ago and promised delivery has come and gone with no communication. Have made numerous attempts to contact and never get any reply. Finally had to dispute charge with credit card provider. Internet and forums are littered with same stories. Beware!!

Scam! Very poor support! Save your money. I checked on Amazon Plenty of alternatives that might work.

I love this, and when it works, it's such a treat. I think the team worked really hard to produce the feeder. I'm not even that frustrated with the short battery life. However, they really need to get it together on the flaws--especially the app, which is kind of clunky, and seems to have some software/firmware issues. I downloaded the recent update, and it took a couple of days to produce any postcards. I really do hope this gets better and better because it's really fun. The latest update seems to improve the battery life.

This is one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had. First, the delay. After I invested in their Kickstarter, it took them months just to hire staff. I will cut them some slack with the global shipping challenges experienced by most importers (though no one forced them to produce in Asia). Second, the crappy defective product. When my unit finally arrived it was completely defective. It will not charge and is a very expensive brick. Third, the complete failure on the customer service end. I was assured that "of course" the company would provide a replacement, but they first questioned my competence/honesty and required me to SEND THEM A VIDEO of me removing the product from the charging cable. After I did that more than ten days ago, it has been complete radio silence from them. No acknowledgement of my email, no apologies, not even a lame excuse that they underproduced and don't have enough product to replace the lemons they shipped. (And I am certain I am not the only one in this situation.) Bottom line: This company is not reputable. There are cheaper alternatives on the market (which makes you wonder what the intellectual property registration delays were really all about). Don't waste your money.

The photos, when I've gotten them, are so sweet and clear- they almost make me want to write a better review. But I can't. I waited for about a year and a half for my Bird Buddy to arrive. The fence attachment doesn't work well, the solar panel does not charge well, the unit does not hold a charge for long and frequently goes offline. It's a pain to take the camera out to charge it with the cord. Most recently, I tried to reset my password after being logged off, and the reset link doesn't work. It's just a mess TBH. I actually tried to send it back shortly after receiving it, due to the wi-fi and charging issues. Their return policy is "only if unopened or unused." Uh, how can you tell it's not going to work unless you use it? Save your money.

The app is not intuitive. The original Kickstarter offered the solar roof as an accessory but now you have to buy a whole new house. It took over 2 years to receive the product. Charge lasts less than 24 hours. Wifi pics are sparce even though birds are landing CONSTANTLY.

They really did a good job with the design of the feeder. The hanging and mounting methods are practical and easy to understand. The easy to remove camera design makes it convenient to remove the camera for charging, which will have to be done very frequently. The battery only lasts for about 3-4 days on a full charge. The app is very awkward to use since you must open a postcard notification, try to determine what type of bird is in the very small picture, and decide if you want to save the picture. The flow should be more efficient such as bird arrives, bird pictures taken, notification of pictures made, open viewable size pictures in the app, and keep them if you want. There should be an option to either include or exclude the identification process of the photos that are taken.

Received finally after almost two years of waiting. Setup is difficult. There's not direction on what the different lights mean. Had to go into the help section of the app numerous times just to figure out answers because there's no manual or trouble shooting guide included. Also, BATTERY LIFE IS TERRIBLE. You'll be lucky if you get 48 hours per charge let alone the thirty days their ad claims. Remarkably laughable battery life.

This product is absolute garbage. Avoid it at all costs. Mine died in three weeks and the company does not respond to email. Even when it worked, it was terrible. The battery barely lasted a day and the solar roof is useless.

Waited for almost two years but I got mine at least! I am so excited to see which birds are visiting my yard daily. I have been a birder for a long time now but have never seen such a unque birdwatching project. I have a few diy bird houses on my yard for a while now and was not sure if this feeder is something that i need but to be honest this is something on a completely another level and I couldn't be more satisfied with this purchase. So far I have received photos on my phone almost every day and I cannot tell how excited I am about this and I am very happy to see that birds keep coming to my yard. If you haven’t yet received yours I am telling you to just be patient because it is gonna be worth the wait. My diy bird houses on the yard aren’t that interesting anymore for the birds haha but maybe I will also just purchase another birdbuddy who knows.

Finally received our Bird Buddy with solar roof (we live in Central Texas). I guess the reason for the several month delay is now clear - though it was never mentioned in the many ‘happy’ but frivolous and useless updates. The battery life is extremely poor - the Bird Buddy needs to be charged weekly despite having the solar roof and a medium or better wifi signal. I would NOT recommend this product to anyone. My rating of ‘2’ rather than ‘1’ is only given with the optimistic hope that the team that launched this product has learned some valuable lessons that they can apply to their next jobs or projects. (Cannot rate the software yet because after two weeks, still no birds! - if excellent, my rating could increase to ‘3’.)