The Birdfy 4K Feeder is tough on squirrels, but I got better video from a feeder that’s $100 less

If you’re going to install a smart bird feeder, you want it to last, right? Birdfy’s new Metal 2 4K Smart Bird Feeder is just that — a solidly built feeder that feels just about impervious to anything. And, it has a camera with a resolution of 4K, so there’s the promise of at least high-quality video, which you should expect if you’re going to fork over $299 for this device.

I’ve been testing the Birdfy out for about a week in my yard, and while there are some things I definitely like about the feeder, there are a few things that could also be improved.

Pricing

The Birdfy Metal 2 4K Smart Bird Feeder costs $299 at Amazon and includes a lifetime subscription to its AI bird identification. You can also get the feeder for $269, but then you’d have to spend $4.99 per month to get the AI identification feature.

Birdfy also has some add-on subscriptions, which all but the most ardent birders could probably do without.

Birdfy offers two subscriptions for saving video, but it’s a little confusing. Moment Video recording essentially increases the captured video length from 20 seconds to 30 seconds; Collection Storage lets you save more of your videos in the cloud. By default, you get 5GB of collection storage for free, which should be more than enough, unless you have flocks congregating at your feeder.

Design

This is one solid feeder. Made out of metal, it’s very substantial and weighs a shade over five pounds. It’s a much more utilitarian design than the Bird Buddy, and arguably not as attractive. And, while the outer frame of the feeder is metal, this section is plastic.

There’s a recess in the rear of the feeder, into which you slide the camera module on a small tray. This makes it easy to remove, but there’s a lot of empty space in the rear. Also, you have to connect both an antenna and a USB-C cable (which connects to the solar panel on the roof) to the camera. The antenna supposedly lets you place the feeder farther from your home than with other feeders, but it does mar the overall look.

Similar to other smart bird feeders, the main body of the Birdfy is translucent, so you can see at a glance how much seed is inside. To refill the feeder, you simply tilt open the BirdFy’s roof and pour the seed in. The roof then swings shut and locks into place. Simple and effective.

I also liked that Birdfy gives you several options to mount the feeder, including a pole mount, hooks, and a strap system to attach it to a tree or the side of a structure.

The one downside to the Birdfy more durable design is that it's a bit harder to clean; if you really want to get to all its nooks and crannies, you'd have to unscrew a few parts.

Squirrel resistance

The front of the Birdfy has a metal grate, which protects the seed (somewhat) from squirrels. In comparison, the Bird Buddy is more open. As a result, the hungry squirrels in my yard would clean it out in a day or so. The Birdfy’s grate makes it harder for them to gorge themselves, so while they still camp out on the feeder, I haven’t had to refill the feeder nearly as often.

The Birdfy also has a speaker built in, so on those times I wasn’t able to go outside to chase the squirrels away, I could at least scold them.

Video Quality

BirdFy Metal 2 4K smart bird feeder: Female Cardinal - YouTube

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The Birdfy 2 can record video at 4K and at 20 fps, but, as we’ve seen from the best phone cameras and best cameras, a higher pixel count isn’t everything. Videos were good, but not great. While I could make out details, such as individual bird feathers, it wasn’t nearly as sharp as I would have expected from a 4K camera.

BirdFy Metal 2 4K smart bird feeder: Male Cardinal pt. 2 - YouTube

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Only a small area in front of the camera appeared to be fully in focus, so if the bird was too close or too far away, it looked a bit fuzzy. Colors were ok, but not nearly as vibrant as the videos I took with a Bird Buddy feeder. And, the 1080p clips from the Bird Buddy looked far more detailed.

I also noticed that the Birdfy camera had trouble with the sky; it would often be washed out or poorly defined, so it was hard to see individual clouds, or even the blue of the atmosphere.

For comparison, here's some video that I shot (from a while back) with the BirdBuddy Pro Solar.

Bird Feeder 2 - YouTube

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AI and app

BirdFy Metal 2 4K smart bird feeder: Sparrow - YouTube

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The Birdfy uses what the company calls OrniSense to identify more than 6,000 bird species. In general, it did a good job, picking out several varieties of sparrows that came to my yard, and even distinguished between male and female cardinals. It did misclassify a brown-headed cowbird as a Barbados bullfinch, which is surprising because the two are pretty distinct, and the latter can only be found on an island about 2,000 miles away from where I live.

The one thing it was not good at was identifying squirrels; it could be because these rodents would often fill most, if not all, of the frame, but each time, the Birdfy would simply tag it as “animal,” even though there seemed to be enough of the squirrel’s head to be properly tagged. Fortunately, you can edit the tags yourself in the app.

The app also makes it easy to view visitors to the feeder; a grid of six thumbnails shows the most recent, and you can click through to see older posts. The app takes several photos to go along with the video of each bird, similar to the Bird Buddy.

Also like Bird Buddy's app, you can see videos from other Birdfy feeders, which those owners have chosen to share; you can do the same if a rara avis alights on your feeder.

The app also has a tab that shows the various species at your feeder, as well as a timeline of when they arrived, a nice touch.

Bottom Line

One of the biggest compliments I can give to the Birdfy feeder is that the squirrels haven’t emptied it out within a day (though they’re making steady progress). In general, it’s not a bad bird feeder — it feels very durable, comes with multiple ways to install it, and it’s really easy to refill.

However, I was disappointed that the quality of the video wasn’t better, given the camera’s resolution. While it wasn’t poor, I’ve been able to get more engaging footage from the BirdBuddy Pro Solar, which costs $100 less. That said, I’ve had to refill the Bird Buddy far more often, so what you’ll save in terms of bird food isn’t exactly chicken feed.

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