Customer Ratings & Reviews

Bird Buddy - Smart Bird Feeder Pro with Solar Roof Good friends of mine in Florida recently sent me photos of birds eating at their bird house feeder/camera system. A few weeks later, I happened on the Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder Pro (with Solar Roof) and decided to grab one up. I’ve had the feeder in place for about a week now, which isn’t long, and I’m still waiting on some birds to find it. I’m sure it’ll take time for the birds in my area to learn its location, so I’m being patient. And instructions included with the feeder clearly note that it might take time for the birds in my area to figure out it’s hanging in my back yard. I don’t have any pictures as of yet, but I can certainly talk about the bird feeder/camera system. Firstly, I didn’t expect bird seeds to be included with the unit – which ended up being correct. So, upon receipt of the feeder, my first act was to buy some seeds. The Bird Feeder Pro comes with almost everything you might need. For example, it comes with a hanger to loosely hang the feeder under a tree limb. I say “Loosely” because the feeder easily swings around whenever a moderate to strong wind passes it by. I expect the same to happen when birds land on it. This feeder does not come with a bird feeder pole, which is essentially a pole that you securely bolt the feeder on top of and plant the bottom end of the pole in the ground. I anticipate going the pole route because the feeder will experience much less movement than it is right now. Upon receipt of this system, I recommend first read ingthe instructions. It recommends giving the camera an initial 2-to-3-hour charge using the included USB type-C cord. While the camera was charging, I installed the Bird Buddy app on my Galaxy phone and created an account for myself. Once created, I went through the app’s setup process to pair the feeder’s camera via Bluetooth, then paired the feeder to my home’s Wi-Fi. These two steps only took a couple of minutes to complete. Once these steps were completed, I added bird seeds to the feeder and hung it on a tree limb in my back yard. Honestly, it was very easy to set up. Once everything was in place, I started tweaking the app. The app lets you choose the Meida Quality (resolution) you’d like to record at. Selections include 720p, 1080p, 2K, 2K Ultra (premium), and Slow Motion. For kicks, I initially set it up for slow motion. It currently is set for 1080p. It also has a Power Saver Mode, a Standard Mode, and a Frenzy Mode, the last of which has the highest battery usage. I might note that it’s past 3pm our time (Phoenix), and the battery is reporting a battery level of 88% – essentially meaning that the solar panels are doing their job. The app does have online instructions on taking the feeder apart to clean it. The app also has an Invite feature that lets you invite people to watch your videos from remote locations. The app also lets you exclude unwelcome species from recording, like pesky squirrels. There is a premium mode you can subscribe to. It offers the following: • Insights into birds • Giving bird visitors names • Special Family Interaction features • 2k Ultra HD Video • All your guests get Premium Membership • Share Livestream with guests • Secure your bird footage with unlimited cloud storage • Save 20% on Bird Buddy products and add-ons • Get real-time alerts on sick or injured birds • Try out new features with exclusive Beta Labs access • Discover unique bird species from around the world I think the whole concept of seeing nature up close and personal is very cool. If I don’t see bird activity soon, I’ll likely purchase a different kind of bird seed to see if it is more attractive to the birds. I’m giving this Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder Pro a 5-star review for its ease of setup and camera quality.

The Bird Buddy - Smart Bird Feeder Pro with Solar Roof is really a great way for anyone to enjoy a feathered friend up close and personal without scaring it away. Straight out of the box, it comes with several items, which at first glance it looks very overwhelming for a birdfeeder with a camera. However, once you look at the directions, it is very easy to understand how all the parts fit together and that not all of the parts are necessary, and what appears to be one of the larger pieces is just so you can place the bird feed into the bird feeder. After the feeder is put together, and you have charged the camera, pairing the camera is fairly easy. The biggest thing you must remember is that it will only connect to 2.4 Ghz and for some your VPN on your phone does need to be turned off. Now that it is connected to your phone, you can set up the App to be shared with multiple people, such as a spouse or your children, which can come in huge for a great learning experience. You can of course turn the notifications on or off which does come in very useful. We've only had a handful of birds and so far the quality is amazing. Now the only downside is that for the name the bird features the App does require a premium subscription, however, it does offer you a 1-week trial. If you just enjoy viewing the birds then all you need is the app and you're all set.

This is my first wi-fi camera enabled bird feeder. It is quite attractive to us humans but the neighborhood feathered friends seem to not find it as attractive. Either that or I picked the wrong bird food blend or I placed it in an unfavorable location - or perhaps both/ all three. In about a week, only four birds of the same species has visited the feeder. However, we really did enjoy the videos and pictures of them captured by the feeder. Let's go back to the unpacking and assembly. The feeder was nicely packaged and easy to unpack. The first thing I did was to fully charge the camera module. While that was in progress, I downloaded the My Bird Buddy app onto my phone and created an account on their website. Next, I invited my wife to join the party with an invite from the app. After that, I began the assembly. Since I was going to hang the feeder from an existing pole, I selected to use the provided hangar hardware rather than the pole top hardware. Next, I elected to use the premounted solar panel, so I inserted the camera module into the appropriate location. I needed to plug in the USB cable connector from the solar panel, but the printed instructions did not show how to do that. Perhaps the online instructions in the app did, but I figured out how to open the food dispenser refill hatch, remove the plastic plug at the top of the food reservoir, and then thread the solar panel USB plug through that slot and plug it into the camera. I think my first feeder location was too close to the house, so after a couple of days I moved it further from the house and closer to some trees in my neighbor's yard. I think the same birds visited it that location as in the first location. Hopefully, we will be getting more feathered visitors soon. I want to mention that the feeder/feeder app has a feature that will detect any cats approaching the feeder and notify you so you can take action. Cool, right?

I’ve had my eye on these smart bird feeders for awhile. I think they’re a super cool concept for birdwatching. So I was excited to try the BirdBuddy Smart Bird Feeder Pro with Solar Roof. In the box you’ll find the feeder, camera, usb c charging cable, the solar roof, hanger, a pole mount with hardware, instructions, and a scoop for birdseed. You’ll need the BirdBuddy app to setup the camera. Just create an account and follow the step by step instructions in the app. You need to attach the solar roof. The solar panel can be oriented to either side so it’s facing the sun depending on where you intend to mount the feeder. Setup was simple. Including the assembly steps I’d say I was up and running in 20 minutes. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the quality of the feeder. It’s plastic construction doesn’t seem particularly heavy duty. I hope it wears well. The solar roof attaches with plastic clips which seemed somewhat fragile. Once attached you need to snake the power cable down through a hole to plug into the camera. I found this design a bit awkward, particularly so when you need to disconnect and reconnect in order to charge with an adapter if solar charging is insufficient. The feeder comes with a pole mount or a hanger so you have 2 mounting options. I opted for the pole mount which attaches easily with the included screws to the bottom of the feeder. I ordered a 79 inch tall pole with a 1 inch diameter to mount the BirdBuddy on. Prior to mounting I filled it with seed using the included scoop. There a small door on the rear of the feeder. This is small and plastic. I’m concerned about how well it will hold up. Filling the seed compartment though this door while mounted is awkward. I found it easier to remove the feeder from the mount to refill. For positioning BirdBuddy suggests placement within 50 feet of your wifi router and preferably oriented so the solar panel gets maximum sunlight exposure. For privacy, you should also avoid the camera facing your home or the homes of your neighbors. I selected a spot in my yard about 40 feet from my router. It became quickly apparent that the 50 foot recommendation from BirdBuddy was optimistic since I had substantial connectivity issues at 40 feet. The camera operates on the 2.4ghz band so I would suggest creating a a guest 2.4ghz network to connect the BirdBuddy to. Mine was the only device on this network. To improve the connection, I also added a wifi extender to the exterior of my home. It was then only after moving the BirdBuddy within 20 feet of this extender did it improve my connection issues. However, I still find the live view somewhat hit or miss in terms of how long it takes to stream. One moment it streams quickly then 20 minutes later it can take forever to load. I frankly don’t think the wifi in the BirdBuddy camera is particularly strong. I have 2k WiFi security cams at a much greater distance than the BirdBuddy that stream flawlessly. I like the solar charging capabilities of the BirdBuddy which should reduce having to charge it using a power adapter. The cam has a 3800 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery and they claim it should last 30 days on a full charge. Even with solar charging I found this estimate very optimistic. I was at 100% on a sunny day and within 7 days I was at 18%. Disappointing. But let’s get to the birdwatching. Gone is the need for binoculars for birdwatching or the need to identify a bird species. The BirdBuddy smart feeder uses AI to automatically identify over 1,000 species. You get visitor notifications of bird and unexpected guests. The captured videos are great quality at 2k and still images are 5 megapixel. It’s fascinating watching various species of birds feeding up close and personal. So cool! I particularly love the ability to share these videos with friends and families. My brother already wants one. Also very cool is that within the app you can check out other BirdBuddy streams from around the world. The app is very nice and is a full featured software experience. This leads me to the unfortunate observation that the BirdBuddy software is far superior to the BirdBuddy hardware.

The bird buddy is a fun way to spy on the local critters without disturbing them as they feed. Sometimes it's hard to see the birds up close, or you can't find the right time to do it and feel like you are missing all the important action. With this smart bird feeder, you can be sure to capture all the important moments and see any rare birds you do not usually see. If you're looking for a new way to enhance your bird viewing experience, then this is a great package. As a standalone bird feeder, it is not too special. The seed capacity is not great and the footprint is quite small compared to other bird feeders. However, these compromises are needed so that the camera can be put in a place where the optimal viewing of birds can be done. Most birds will fill the frame and you can get some amazing shots. It does come with a solar roof and it does keep the camera powered provided you have ample sunlight. There is also the option to use the included hook to hang it on a tree, but you cannot use the solar roof if you choose this option (the wire gets in the way of the hook in the back). Since this is a smart feeder, one of the most important features is how usable the mobile app is. I can say that so far, it is an enjoyable experience. The setup was very easy and does not require much maintenance after that. There is not a whole lot you can configure, there are only three power modes you can select and you can choose to ignore some species of birds. To enhance the experience, there is Bird Buddy Premium. While the cool features like better AI recognition, more sharing options, or more cloud storage is included, it is absolutely disgusting that they lock the highest quality video in the premium option as well. Imagine paying a monthly fee just so you can use a hardware feature that is already built into the device. The connection to the livestream is also a little hit or miss. There were times where it connects in a few seconds, while sometimes it can take almost a minute. For the asking price that this is, some of the premium features should have been given as a default. If you break this down to just the basics, it is just a subpar bird feeder with a smart camera. This is a combination that is not hard to replicate, there are tons of smart cameras on the market for quite cheap. It is the software that should separate this from the others, and so far it is asking for too much with the premium option. The restriction with having to upload to the cloud instead of saving to a local storage on the camera really puts in to question the long term usability of this product. Overall, if you are looking for a quick and easy solution so view birds through a camera, then this is an ok option. However, there are other ways to get the same result that may involve a little more DIY but will yield better results at a lower price. This is not something I can recommend when it is not on sale as it just feels too expensive. The mobile app is pretty cool, but without premium it is just another security camera app specifically for birds.

So this is definitely fancier than your average bird feeder and they are marketing it to one very specific group of people. It's those that really enjoy seeing and sharing bird photos. For everyone else, this will be an over priced purchase that realistically will have a squirrel lounging in it more than birds. For those that this is marketed to, the design is well done on most aspects. There are no metal fasteners holding this together, so that means no rust to deal with. The bird seed holder has convenient drain holes to keep the feed from becoming soggy. The camera does a decent enough job of taking photos and video and the solar panel works well at keeping the battery topped off. However, that's where my praise ends for this. The initial instructions were not great on how to assemble the metal hook to hand the device. It looked like it was supposed to slot in somewhere, but in the end I found through online articles that it just hangs in place on the front notch. The instructions also don't mention that you should be using the back door of the seed container as a chute to get seed in. I was trying for days to tilt the feeder forward and fill the seed. If there had been a sticker or something that said "use me as a chute" that would have made a world of difference. As it stands, it took me forever to figure it out, but once I did, it was much easier to fill. As for the camera itself, I like the image quality, but the radio range is very short. If you plan on putting this out far from your house, you may need a radio repeater somewhere. I also do not like a lot of the terms of service for the app itself. You very much are the product that they are taking your info from and selling to other companies to make money. They also very much want you to share your photos like social media to get other people to pay for viewing privileges. As long as people continue to pay, the device will likely be worth it, but if there servers ever shut down, like so many other smart device ecosystems, then this will turn into expensive landfill material.

I love birds. I grew up with birds in my house as a kid, and if not for my own kid's fear of things flying around his head, I'm sure I'd have at least a couple in the house. So around the time of COVID, like other middle-aged dudes, I developed a VERY amateur interest in birding. I now live in a very cardinal-heavy area, having come from a suburb where trees were sparse and the bird population largely in taller trees and away from my spying eyes. My new habit was enabled by a desk in a room near a window overlooking my back yard, where I could easily place piles of bird seed and have bird friends right outside my window. It was a wonderful way to break up the monotony of working a fully-remote job, and bring some happiness back to an otherwise secluded existence that we all endured. Thanks to everyone's favorite vertical-video platform, my aviary fixation worsened over the subsequent years (or improved, depending on how you look at it), and while I love indoor domesticated birds, there's something really nice about feeding your local outdoor flying friends. Oh, and squirrels... say what you want about them, they're cute, even if they hog the bird food. Anyway, the Bird Buddy...it's a bird feeder with a camera on it. For people like me, it's a no brainer, although it is also $300. The setup was pretty straightforward, and the solar roof is great if you happen to have it in a place that gets good sunlight. There's nothing special about the camera, nothing all that special about the app (think bird-identifying app meets ring camera app meets "Bird Buddy only" vertical-video app), and definitely nothing special about the feeder. But it's all of those things, and it's super fun. It's not meant for everyone: it's a very niche product that I definitely needed to have, and if you like birds ("birbs," according to the intertubes) like me, I don't anticipate you'll regret getting this... Unless you have bluejays, and you don't like them. Bluejays are jerks.

I’ve only had my Bird Buddy for a couple of weeks, but it’s definitely an enjoyable addition to my feeder array. NOTE: You need a good WiFi signal for this to work well. If your WiFi can't reach your feeder, this isn't going to work. I would like to give a shout out to the packaging engineers. Everything in the box is recyclable. I know not everyone cares about that detail, but it’s important to me. Bravo. I found the setup of the bird buddy to be super simple. Essentially, you take it out of the box, charge the camera, download the app, use the app to pair the camera, attach the camera to the solar roof with the USB cable, select your location, fill it up with feed, and go. I was a little disappointed to realize I had to stop and charge the camera. I was all excited to get going and then had to stop, but it makes sense. I just wasn’t thinking about it ahead of time. I was also slightly confused by the camera charging process. I was looking for the blue light (mentioned in the instructions) telling me it was ready to pair. I never saw it. I’m not sure if it’s just dim or if I did something wrong. Ultimately, I ended up just leaving it on the charger for a couple of hours (as instructed) to make sure it was fully charged. Once charged, I used the app to connect the bird feeder, and it found it right away. Please note that you do not pair the feeder directly to your phone through settings, you do it through the app. Once I got it set up, it was time to wait. I have a decent amount of bird traffic, so I didn’t have to wait long for some action. I like the camera. Most of the pictures seem to be high quality and mostly focused. It does well in bright light and in the evening (within reason of course). You can set the app to show you everything the camera captures, or you can let it curate unique bird species using AI technology. I went with Curate mode, so I don’t get so many post cards. Post cards are the images/videos that it captures and sends to you. It identifies the species of bird and allows us to learn a bit about them. It also allows you to share your postcards with up to 10 family members. I suspect that I will get fewer notifications over time as it works through the most common visitors. You can always manage notification in the app if you don’t like seeing everything. You can view all of your images in the app by name, species, and all saved. The app has a lot of features. There are too many things to talk about here. A few key items. You can choose the camera resolution to save battery and storage space, although the highest quality camera settings are only available if you pay for the premium membership. There is even a slow-motion video option that can lead to some cute videos of your visitors. It is lower resolution, but still fun. You can use the app to watch the live stream from the camera and grab your own photos in real time (with a few seconds delay). You can set it to alert you to other animals like cats. You can also tell it to ignore certain common birds. You can also manage all of the Bird Buddy community setting in the app. I’m a private person, so I’m not sharing my images, but you can share if you’d like and even watch live cams from other feeders. It comes with a feed scoop. I don’t really use it because I have others that I like, but it’s nice to include for people who are just getting started. It has the option to use a hanger wire or a pole type mount depending on how you prefer to set it up. Aesthetically, it’s super cute. I have the blue and red version. So what is not to like? Not much…it’s pretty fun. Time will tell how durable it is and how long the solar charging panel keeps up, but so far so good. I used the wire hanger, but I may end up needing to switch to a pole mount. While it does a pretty good job of focusing on images, sometimes it gets to swinging in the wind or when larger birds an popping on and off and it throws off the image. Squirrels are also a problem, but that’s not bird buddy’s fault. Hopefully they don’t chew through it. The opening to the seed is relatively small, so it takes the squirrels a while to go through the seed. I do wish it had a higher seed capacity, but it’s not the end of the world to have to fill it up every couple of days. The door used to fill the seed isn't the easiest thing to get to, but again, it's manageable, I just end up spilling a little feed from time to time. I’m pretty against the whole subscription to everything trend, and Bird Buddy is on that train. It’s functional without the subscription, but there are some fun features like enhanced AI, being able to name frequent visitors and be notified when “Frank” visits your feeder, being able to share additional information with friends and family, better camera features, and Amazon Alexa integration. I wish they’d just price feature into the product and not nickel and dime customers. Everyone is doing it, but that doesn’t mean I have to support it. I will not be subscribing. Overall, it’s a lot of fun to tinker with. I enjoy the fun pictures and slow-motion videos of my feathered friends. My family members enjoy looking at things on their devices as well. It’s not cheap, but if it holds up, I think it’s worth the price point if you are into the tech side of nature viewing.

In getting the Bird Buddy, I remember seeing it offerred on crowd funding site years ago. I thought it was a cool idea but I vowed myself not to buy tech products via crowd funding and I am glad I waited! From the first iteration of the product, the Bird Buddy should be a sure fire hit. However, a lot of people really panned it due to the software. However, I see that as a promising future. Software can be improved. The hardware, if the physical parts fail, then it's a matter of time where everytihng implodes, in my opinion. Now that these are now offered in retail stores, it was finally time to see if this bird buddy is worth it. I have the solar roof that only comes with a hanger. The pole mount adapter is included so you can put it on a standard 1 inch bird feeder pole. The unboxing was good and straight forward. However, the quick start instructions tell you to charge up your camera with the included USB C cable for at least 2 hours before putting everything together and to start using it. That is not an issue. But when plugging the camera in, the documentation says there is supposed to be a blinking led. I did not see one. To me there was no indicator that the camera was charging at all. I was working on my car, so it was a good 2 and a half hours that went by when I finished and moved to put the Bird Buddy all together. There are optional accessories you can add to it. From the wall mount to a perch extender. There's even a water bottle you can add to this thing. It's pretty cute set up and the color is very pleasant to look at. Even though it kind of reminds me of a doorbell camera. All of the parts of the Bird Buddy is very well thought out. Even to the door on the back. Where if you tilt or lift the back door a bit, you can use that to safely pour in your birdseed pretty confidently without spillage, or major spilling. In plugging in the solar power panel roof to the camera, you have to pop out the plug to fee the wire through from the roof to the front part where the camera mounts with a magnet. I mounted my Bird Buddy on a pole and added a baffler to keep the squirrels away. So far so good on that front. And it has held up in hard Texas rain and wind. We had a Red Flag week here recently and that was around 20-40 mph winds and the Bird Buddy held it's ground nicely. Where this shines is the pictures and videos it can produce. In it's early days, the software was laggy and buggy. In recent days, the software can still be a bit stalled at times at the live feed, but otherwise it's great. Do you need a subcription? It's not required, but there are cool features that includes AI features. Theres a few different plans ranging from annually to monthly. But you don't actually need a subcription of any kind to enjoy it. You do get a few days of the premium subcription to wet your palet, but you can decide if you want or need the other teirs. The bluetooth connection to the camera is not entirely smooth, but you may have different experiences. I am using the Android 16 Beta 3.1. The 2k video is new for this model and in the higher subscriptions, there is a 2k Ultra, which i do not know what it means, but it's not really needed. The video this can produce is good enough. If you get great light, you will get great images. In the app, you can share the same account with up to I think 10 different people, however, the live feed option is available for the main account creator. Going live feed too much does reduce the battery, so that makes sense here. The solar roof has done it's job. Where during the cloudy days prior to some hard rain, the battery gone down to around 80%. With a sunny day, the roof can easily charge up in no time. Oh and I have a mesh system for internet so it covers more than enough of my property to easily connect. Keep that in mind when you decide where you want to hang or mount your Bird Buddy. Within a day, we started getting birds. We have seen a few Cardinals in passing so we know they are in our trees, but with the Bird Buddy, we see them up close and every day now. With teh Bird Buddy, you can name them if you want and this is like my smart door bell camera where it can remember people's faces when they are within range of the doorbell. That makes it personal to you and your family. This Bird Buddy set up has made our family avid bird watchers and our cats love it because it is attracting more birds as the days progress in the front and back ouf our house. Is that a good thing? I believe so. It makes the neighborhood a bit more livelier in my opinion. At the end of each day, the Bird Buddy goes into sleep mode automatically to save it's battery, which is a cool thing. And after the Bird Buddy has called it quits for the day, the app recaps the visits and types of birds it captures. The quick AI can help ID the birds, but you can ask the AI to re-assess the bird if you want. Otherwise, I am happy on how the app works on my Android phones. Would I recommend it? It is a resounding yes. The app is now a bit more polished. Where there are still hiccups in the live feed. Overall is fund to use.

Have you ever looked at a bird feeder and thought "this is pretty nice, but wouldn't it be cool if someone jammed a camera in there"? If you have, well I've got great news ... The Bird Buddy "smart" bird feeder is pretty much just a standard bird feeder with a camera in it. Setup is pretty simple and straightforward. Charge the camera, download the app, follow the instructions and you're set. We've got ours set up on the outer edge of the property a good 15 yards or so away from the nearest wifi point, and it works super well. Live streaming isn't that stable at this distance, but the camera does properly trigger, record, and push notifications when the feeder gets any visitors. It's a little early in the season yet for the solar panels to keep the camera topped off, in my neck of the woods anyway, because of all the rain, but it should be more than adequate to the task in a few more weeks. The app is where this thing really shines. It has a ton of great features. It identifies the birds that visit, serves as a little birding log for all your visitors, let's you set notifications for specific species and other events, and it recognizes squirrels! There's a bunch of other stuff in there, and it's all pretty cool if you're into this sort of thing. Only thing I would like to have seen is a camera that supports wifi 6e, that would completely eliminate the live streaming issue. Very minor complaint though, and something that can definitely be solved in a future release (bird buddy if you see this please retain compatibility if/when you release and updated camera module). Anyway it's great! If you're looking for a "smart" bird feeder (aka a bird feeder with a camera in it) then this is your best bet. I know there are other options out there, but the companion app (with it's free lifetime subscription) and the overall quality of the hardware really set this one apart. It's in easy recommendation for bird enthusiasts.

We've had bird feeders for years that give us endless hours of enjoyment. I like tech, so for fun I decided to try Bird Buddy. I was overwhelmed by its features and how well the features work. The interface menu is a bit complicated because there are many options, but the options are not difficult to figure out. The Bird Buddy functions as advertised: it takes gorgeous photos and videos of the visitors, identifies them by species, and sends you alerts when photos and videos are ready to view (if you choose that option). I never thought that I would enjoy a bird house so much! The BIrd Buddy folks seem to have anticipated the full range of how users might want to interact with this product. There is a Premium subscription option that you can try for free for one week before paying for it. It gives much higher resolution (2K versus 720), access to all unlocked feeders around the world, unlimited cloud storage, and the ability to name specific birds that you recognize from repeated trips. I enjoyed these features so much that I almost continued the subscription, which is worth it if you want these features. But I decided to stay with the free package. I found the 720 resolution was fully adequate, I was more interested in my local birds than others', I preferred to save photos and videos locally, and didn't need to name specific birds. Still, those are great options if you want them.

Hello friends and welcome to my review of the new Bird Buddy Smart bird feeder wi8th solar roof. That's a mouthful so i will call it Bird Buddy from here on. First of all, it shipped quickly from BB in a proper box. Packaged very well and all parts were present. After charging the main unit for a few hours, I completed assembly of the unit and installed it in a sunny area of my yard. We have tons of native birds in the area, so I figured it would be empty by day's end. I was wrong about that, it took five days of the Bird Buddy sitting in my yard before anything got near it. This is mentioned in the instruction manual. So do not be alarmed if you have the same experience. This Bird buddy unit is a smart device so next I downloaded the app and made an account. Seems routine these days to start a new account for everything..... Anyway, The app is very easy to use and navigate. The video is bright and clear, as well as the pics. Easy to share pics and video. However if you want to name your birds and other in depth features you will need to subscribe. My final thoughts are that the Bird Buddy is a great product with an in depth app. The only other thing is that it's a good idea to put the Bird Buddy on a post. I put it on the hanger and it moves around to much and makes video blurry. Yes I would recommend to a friend!