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I recently got my hands on a FeatherSnap bird feeder. It’s a Wi-Fi connected, smart bird feeder that captures pictures and videos of birds at your feeder. You can even watch live!
I thought it was a fun product idea but I think I underestimated just how much I’d enjoy it. For the past few weeks, I think it’s safe to say, this has been the most used app on my phone. Let me tell you a bit more about it…
Some product highlights –
▴ Photo + video, obviously! The feeder snaps three photos and one fifteen-second video per visit. The video even has audio. The camera is only 4MP but it gets the job done, you can clearly see all who visit.
▴ Solar powered! The roof has a solar panel so you don’t need to worry about changing or charging up batteries. In the month I’ve had mine, I only had to charge it once and that was when it first arrived. The app makes it easy to see your battery percentage, mine has never dropped below 70%!
▴ Dual seed bin allows you to fill your feeder with two different seed types.
▴ You get real-time notifications of visitors to your feeder. Go from “who’s texting me now?!” to “who’s at the feeder?!”
▴ The app offers a ‘bird book‘ which is where you can keep track of all the different visitors you’ve had to your feeder. It also has a built-in AI feature to help you ID those visitors.
▴ Also worth noting is that because of the size and the way it’s mounted, squirrels don’t make a mess of the bird feed! In the past I’ve owned many bird feeders that hang from trees or shepherd’s hooks and squirrels always manage to spill those because they’re trying to balance on them. This feeder has a large platform that squirrels can comfortably sit on therefore they aren’t doing gymnastics trying to eat and don’t spill everywhere. I know not everyone likes squirrels at their feeders so of course, you can sprinkle hot pepper flakes in with your bird feed to keep them away.
A few downsides –
▴ I don’t feel like it’s made abundantly clear that the birdfeeder requires a monthly subscription to view the photos on your phone. I knew that it offered a subscription but I wrongly assumed that made the AI identification available. Without a subscription, the camera still works and you will receive notifications through the app that you had a visitor at the bird feeder but you will not be able to view those images. It is worth noting though, you can install a mini SD card in the camera and check the photos manually but that defeats the purpose of having an app.
At the time of writing this post, the subscription costs $6.99 per month or $59.99 annually.
▴ Video isn’t immediately available and must be “requested”. I don’t think I would have a problem with this if it worked every single time but alas, sometimes the video just never shows up.
▴ No way to remove ‘FeatherSnap’ watermark. Not a huge deal but it feels unnecessary to have it stamped on every single image and video, especially when you’re paying for a service.
Final thoughts –
I love this bird feeder. It has turned me on to a new hobby. I’ve always had bird feeders and enjoyed it when I’d happen to catch one having lunch there but this? This is something different! I LOVE watching the birds now.
Does it stink that there’s a subscription? Yes, of course. Like most folks these days, I’m subscription-ed out, man! Buuut, I do genuinely think this is worth it. Even with my small gripes about the feeder and app, I still think the good outweighs the bad. This has brought a lot of joy into my life. I LOVE checking who is visiting after every notification and whew, the thrill of getting a new type of bird? It’s the best.
For 100% transparency, I was gifted this bird feeder as part of a campaign but this blog post is not part of that. You can check out my sponsored post here.