Netvue Birdfy Feeder Cam Review: Fun But Wonky

Importantly, it’s a solid feeder, holding 50 ounces of seeds, with a nice perch big enough for a few birds (if they don’t mind the crowding) and a roof to keep everything relatively dry. The hinged roof is made for easy refilling, too. Just slide it open to one side, fill up, and click the roof back in place.

The Birdfy is mountable with or without actually drilling anything—great for us renters. I used the included strap to attach it to my balcony railing, but the company shows it strapped to trees as well. I recommend adding the solar panel for the extra $25. It’s worth it to never have to charge a battery.

Netvue is a security company, so you can use the camera as an added security measure too, depending on where it’s located. There’s an alarm siren you can set off—it’s not a piercing sound thankfully, but I still strongly suggest not doing that when little birdy ears are nearby. The brand has responsive customer service too, and you can even live chat directly through the app.

For the Birds

Birdfy AI correctly identifying house finch bird perched on feeder

Birdfy AI bird recognition misidentifying house finch as pink siskin

The Birdfy isn’t all perfect, and where it’s lacking is a big one. If you opt for the $250 Birdfy, you get a lifetime of free AI identification. If you go with the Birdfy Lite for $200, you get video only, with the option to add AI later for $5 per month. A $50 charge for forever AI sounds great to me, but that identification has a long way to go.

I get mostly doves at my feeder, but there are a handful of other little ones that stop by too. Birdfy sometimes identifies a bird correctly in one shot, and then immediately calls it something else as it moves around. In the photos above, you can see it identified the same bird as a house finch and a pine siskin. These birds look really similar to each other, so I can understand the confusion there. But sometimes Netvue identified what is clearly a dove as a cardinal. The sun blaring directly into the camera might be to blame here, and as you can see it created a reddish blur that the AI may have been confused by. But still, this is the big and pricey marketing feature.