Bird Buddy's AI-Enhanced Smart Hummingbird Feeder Hits Kickstarter, Alongside a Smart Bird Bath

Bird Buddy is back on the crowdfunding circuit for its next-generation smart camera systems for the birdwatcher in a hurry — launching its promised hummingbird feeder alongside a bird bath, both with cameras capable of recognizing bird species for you.

"The Smart Hummingbird Feeder allows you to effortlessly capture stunning and intimate photos of nature's fastest flyers,' say Bird Buddy's Gladys Fung of the company's latest creations. "The Smart Bird Bath is perfect for attracting a wide range of birds (and more) for a fun and candid photo session while they safely rehydrate and clean."

The original Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder launched two years ago, offering a seed-dispensing feeder with an integrated camera. The twist: in addition to providing live views and automatically capturing video when a bird comes in to feed, the camera fed into Bird Buddy's image classification system to figure out exactly what bird had just visited — adding information about its species to still images and video, sent automatically to a connected phone or tablet.

Earlier this year the company unveiled its second-generation device, the Smart Hummingbird Feeder — switching out the seed dispenser for a nectar system aimed at attracting the fast-flying creatures to the same camera system. Now, it's launched a crowdfunding campaign for the new device — along with a third gadget, the Smart Bird Bath.

Both of the new devices use the same camera as the original Smart Bird Feeder — in fact, the camera module can be easily swapped between all three. That means the specifications are unchanged: a five-megapixel sensor captures high-definition video across a 120 degree field of view, with a built-in microphone to capture birdsong. For those want to maximize battery life, meanwhile, both new devices can be ordered with a solar roof — prolonging the time between manual charges, but not eliminating them altogether.

Bird Buddy's crowdfunding campaign is live on Kickstarter now, with physical rewards starting at $174 for the Smart Hummingbird Feeder and $184 for the Smart Bird Bath — both discounted for early-bird backers from a regular $235 and $249 respectively. The Solar Roof is available for $74 discounted or $99 regularly for the Smart Hummingbird Feeder and $89 discounted or $119 regularly for the Smart Bird Bath — the latter including a pump to discourage algal growth.

More information is available on the campaign's Kickstarter page, with physical rewards due to ship in March next year.