6 Best Smart Bird Feeders of 2023 - Reviewed - Reviewed

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Updated July 27, 2023

Welcome to my backyard. To find the best smart bird feeders on the market, my impact driver and I tangled with solar panels, wall-mount brackets, some solid trees, and a few bird feeder poles. I also charged a lot of batteries, messed around with AI recognition, and set up enough security cameras to rival the CIA.

Testing smart bird feeders did not go as planned. At the outset, I had imagined this would be an idyllic experience rife with birdsong and soaring cardinals and bluebirds. What I got was a battle of wills with a hungry raccoon and squirrels unphased by alarms, bright lights, and cayenne pepper. Yes, I did capture numerous feathered friends on my array of bird feeders with cameras. I also learned that there are some definite quirks and annoyances to this new-fangled spin on old-fashioned bird-watching.

Winging to the front of the flock is the Netvue Birdfy Feeder (available at Amazon) , which wins our Best Overall award for its sheer plethora of ways to mount it and feed birds, and provide a clear picture both day and night. Netvue has also priced this nicely. For newbie birdwatchers who want to identify the tweeters in their backyard, Bird Buddy (available at Bird Buddy) offers the best AI recognition of the smart feeders we tested.

A bird feeder with an aqua roof sits on white pole — Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi

A blue birdfeeder with a white camera sits on a black pole — Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi

A green bird feeder is mounted to a tree — Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi

Other Smart Bird Feeders We Tested

How We Tested Smart Bird Feeders

The Tester

I’m Leigh Harrington, executive editor of the Home team. When I’m not editing articles or pursuing other projects for Reviewed, I like to spend time in my backyard gardening, relaxing, and watching birds. Yep, I’m a middle-aged bird nerd, which is why I staked a claim for this assignment testing smart bird feeders. And, boy was it wild!

The Tests

A man in a red sweatshirt screws a metal plate to a tree — Credit: Reviewed / Leigh Harrington

There was nothing super scientific about these tests.

We mounted each smart bird feeder per its included instructions, synced the camera to a Wi-Fi connection, charged up the batteries, and filled each feeder with food. Then we waited for the birds to come.

We also looked at special features like whether or not the bird feeders with cameras could run off solar power, and each smart bird feeder’s app. We looked at battery life, how easily birds could access the bird food, and whether or not the feeder was critter-proof.

After a couple of weeks of near-constant birdsong, $200 worth of bird food, and some nightly visitors, we had our answers. Not to mention an insider’s perspective into New England bird species!

Things To Consider Before Buying A Smart Bird Feeder

Critters Will Find It

Consider your environment and the location of your home before buying a smart bird feeder, otherwise, you’ll have complete anarchy on your hands.

We tested smart bird feeders in a suburban neighborhood that leans slightly more toward rural than urban on scale. We had about four days of bird euphoria during our three weeks of testing before critters infiltrated the feeders. Unfortunately, we can’t say we were surprised.

Of the half dozen feeders that we tested, raccoons and squirrels vandalized them all.

Four of the feeders mount to a vertical surface with flat, metal bracket mounts. Essentially, this means that your options for mounting locations include the wall of your house or a tree. Neither are ideal, the former because no one wants to screw into expensive siding on a permanent structure and the latter because, well, critters live in and climb trees.

The remaining two feeders we tested allow for other options—Bird Buddy can mount on top of a pole or it can hang; Netvue Birdfy can mount vertically with brackets, but it can also mount on a pole. Squirrels do climb poles, but baffles can prevent their access and you can buy a baffle at any home improvement or bird store. Unfortunately, you can’t use a baffle on a vertical surface or around a tree, which means nothing is preventing a squirrel and raccoon feast. And that means you’ll spend a fortune on bird food.

All of the feeders include an array of critter deterrents, including alarms, sirens, bright white lights, and/or two-way communication so you can scream at them—and we did. These tactics rarely worked during our testing, and the squirrel would be back for more minutes later.

Make sure you have a plan before you spend $200 to $300 on a smart bird feeder, or you will regret it.

The Solar Panels And Wi-Fi Antennas Break Easily

three smart birdfeeders attached to trees in the woods show damage — Credit: Credit: Reviewed / Leigh Harrington

Most models we tested included solar panels with the price of purchase of the smart bird feeder. While these solar panels are great for keeping the feeders’ batteries charged up, they’re also frequently manhandled or sat upon by visiting raccoons and squirrels.

Only one of the solar panels didn’t break permanently in some way during our three weeks of testing. Critters also broke the fragile Wi-Fi antennas often and left them hanging, literally.

Privacy

With smart cameras, including outdoor security cameras, video doorbells, and bird feeders with cameras, come privacy concerns, especially when you're using a camera around your home that can record visitors, neighbors, and passers-by without their knowledge. Be mindful of where you place it in your yard, and the content of any clips you post publicly.

While each bird feeder camera is going to have its own privacy practices, make sure to read the fine print on the one you purchase. In the case of the Bird Buddy, the camera range is as good as an outdoor security camera, but it doesn't come with the same privacy features, like motion or privacy zones; these let you define what areas the camera does or does not record and are fairly common with video doorbells and most cameras from big brands, which would, actually, apply to the Ring, Blink and Wyze options for the Wasserstein feeder). Bird Buddy uses end to end encryption for recordings, which means that technically no one else can view or access the clips when it's being processed from the camera to the storage server. This keeps it more secure. We can also offer many tips to keep your smart home safe and secure.

What You Should Know About Smart Bird Feeders

What Is A Smart Bird Feeder?

A smart bird feed is a bird feeder with a camera that connects to Wi-Fi and streams video, captures photos, and performs other tricks. It allows the user an extremely close-up view of local bird species, their feeding habits, and, in some cases, can identify a bird for you.

Most feeders mount on poles, trees, or other surfaces, but are too heavy to hang as more traditional bird feeders do. All have apps, some of which are exclusive and some of which link into existing smart home security platforms, like VicoHome.

Just like a smartphone, the cameras need to charge and do so through a USB-C cord. All of the feeders we tested have solar panels or solar roof options to keep the battery going for longer.

How Does A Smart Bird Feeder Work?

A person's hand moves a white camera into a slot on a bird house — Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi

In basic terms, the camera on a smart bird feeder connects wirelessly to your home’s internet. It can detect motion, and when it does, it turns on, capturing the image that’s directly in front of it. Most apps allow the user to select the level of detection, from low to high.

Most cameras capture 10-second video clips, although some allow you to select a different length.

As for the bird-feeding features of the feeder, it’s pretty simple: Fill it with food and the birds (and squirrels) will find it.

Do Bird Feeders With Cameras Have A Monthly Fee?

It depends. All of the smart bird feeders that we tested offer some sort of app functionality for free. A few are completely free, included as part of the purchase of the smart bird feeder, as in the case of Bird Buddy’s app, which is exclusive.

Others, as in the case of Birdkiss and Soliom, use VicoHome, a security camera app that offers real-time streaming but requires a monthly or annual subscription to save more than the most recent 72 hours of video footage.

How Do Birds Know There Is A New Bird Feeder In The Yard?

Reviewed’s chief scientist David Ellerby, Ph.D., has done years of bird physiology research and is eager to answer some of the birdwatching world’s most popular questions, starting with how birds will know if there is a new feeder in your yard.

“Birds have excellent eyesight, and that's how they track down new food sources,” he explains. “If your feeder is hidden away, it will take birds a while to find it.”

So, if you want birds to show up ASAP, place feeders where birds can see them easily.

“Even so,” says Ellerby, “it could still take birds a few days to learn there's a free meal available in your yard.”

How To Identify The Birds Around My Backyard?

Identifying birds can be tricky, and depending on where you live in the world, will include a variety of species.

Your best bet is to invest in a birding guide, of which there are many.

Ellerby cautions, “Some guides assume you know roughly the type of bird you're dealing with, but if you don't know a finch from a sparrow, that's not much help.”

If you're a beginner, Ellerby recommends the National Audubon Society as a great resource, particularly their helpful app.

“The app takes basic information like the location, time of year, and size and color of the bird to narrow down a list of likely species,” he says. But when the app examines the feeder’s pictures of birds to identify them, it’s not always that accurate.

If you prefer a book, field guides for the whole country contain an overwhelming number of species. Guides specific to your region or state are much less intense.

Ellerby’s favorites are by the author Stan Tekiela. “He has user-friendly guides for most states that take a simple appearance-based approach to walk you through the bird ID process,” he says.