This Smart Bird Feeder Identifies Hungry Avians

Once you reach a certain age, things that previously seemed boring start becoming interesting. For example, you might turn 40 and suddenly develop an obsession with World War II-era artillery design. Don't scoff — something like this is bound to happen to you. If birds become the target of your newfound interest, then you might want to buy a nice pair of binoculars to spot them. Or you can follow the lead of Redditor Hermy65 to build a smart bird feeder that can automatically identify the avian species that stop by.

To passersby, BirdBrain looks like any other bird feeder that one might find at the local garden store or nursing home. It has a little perch and a trough of bird seed. But it also hides a dark voyeuristic secret: a camera. That points right at the perch, so it gets a nice, clear view of any bird that lands for a nibble. As that bird munches away, BirdBrain captures video of the action. It also uses an AI recognition system to identify the particular species of the visitor. That's pretty neat, because it means that amateur ornithologists can look through the records for rare species without having to watch videos of the trite robins and starlings.

That camera connects to a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ that also resides inside of the bird feeder enclosure. It runs two important pieces of software: Frigate and WhosAtMyFeeder. Frigate is local NVR (network video recorder) software that includes real-time object detection. WhosAtMyFeeder works with Frigate to identify bird species that come into the video frame. As a super cool bonus, BirdBrain also integrates with Docker and/or Home Assistant. That means that users can receive notifications when certain types of birds show up. Those notifications can come in any form supported by Home Assistant. We suggest a big flashing red light and a siren, just to be sure you don't miss that elusive red-cockaded woodpecker.

Hermy65 3D-printed the bird feeder enclosure, which is a modified version of of Vlastimil's Bird Buddy. Power comes from an AC adapter, as Hermy65 keeps BirdBrain close to an outlet. But they said that a battery and something like a PiJuice HAT will fit inside if people want a remote setup. The 3D model is over on Printables for anyone that would like to tackle this project.