Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder With Solar Panel Review

The Birdkiss Smart Bird Feeder with Solar Panel ($249.99) puts a modern spin on the backyard staple. This house-shaped plastic feeder includes a cloud-connected security camera that can alert you when a bird (or other critter) comes to feed. It even promises to tell you what species is visiting, though we found its accuracy to be less than im-peck-able in testing, and its video quality is adequate at best. Even so, the Birdkiss is a hoot for backyard birders who are sure to enjoy seeing what's coming for a snack.

Let's face it: From the birds' perspective, there's no real reason for a feeder to be smart. As long as there's a steady supply of food and enough cover to protect from predators, birds will indulge. But for bird watchers, adding a connected camera to the mix is a neat trick, one that lets you enjoy the relaxing vibes of nature from anywhere.

The Birdkiss isn't the only smart feeder on the market. Competitors like the Netvue Birdfy(Opens in a new window) series are similar in concept, with external solar panels leveraged to keep their cameras powered. Others like the Auxco Bird Feeder(Opens in a new window) and Bird Buddy(Opens in a new window) put the solar panels right on the roof, a more clever approach.

We've not yet tested competitors to check their picture quality and app features, but aside from aesthetics, seed capacity, and slight variations in design, the competition is similar in concept and in the same ballpark price-wise.

The Birdkiss ships in a big cardboard box. I was a little intimidated when first opening it up, worried that I had signed up for an Ikea construction project. But it proved pretty easy to put together, as the three main parts snap together without tools. The roof has a hinge on one side for easier seed refills.

My partner jumped in for assistance and took care of the project in under a half hour. She took the time to read the printed manual, which includes clear step-by-step instructions in large print. We'll call this out as a plus, especially when many tech devices ship with tiny pamphlets that call for a magnifying glass to interpret.

Once you've got the feeder assembled, you'll want to charge the camera fully. You can replenish it via the on-camera micro USB port, or via a USB-C port nestled into the side of the feeder's blue plastic top. A USB-C solar panel is included to keep the battery topped off, but its slow trickle charge is just good enough to keep the camera powered all day—make sure you charge the camera fully before handing charging duties over to the solar panel.

Next up, you'll want to install the VicoHome app. Make sure to search for VicoHome in the App Store or Google Play Store, as Birdkiss doesn't come up with a result in either. The app is free to download, but some features (including the touted bird species recognition) require a subscription—we detail plan options further down the page.

As for mounting, Birdkiss recommends you find a spot in your yard with good Wi-Fi coverage. Like many smart home products, the Birdkiss doesn't talk to 5GHz networks; it's 2.4GHz only. Thankfully, the 2.4GHz band of my home network extends well into my backyard. I picked a good spot with medium-strength coverage for my install point.

The feeder comes with a mounting base that works with standard bird feeder poles. Alternately, it can be secured onto a structure using the included anchors and screws. While setup of the feeder itself is tool-free, you'll want to have a power drill handy if you opt to mount it to a wall.

I chose to use the included Velcro strap to mount the feeder to a tree. I positioned the solar panel base above it, using included screws to secure it to the tree. The mount includes a ball-and-socket joint that rotates to set the panel's angle, so you can adjust it to ensure it will get plenty of sun.

I loaded the VicoHome app on my iPhone 13 to test the Birdkiss. The app is also available for Android. Setup went off without a hitch—the app prompts you to turn on the camera, which beeps and shows a blue light on startup. Next up the app searches for your camera, then prompts you to connect it to your home network.

VicoHome offers free, Basic, Plus, and Pro plans. The free plan includes three days/500MB of cloud storage; Basic costs $2.99 a month and includes 15 days/3GB of storage; Plus is $4.49 a month and includes 30 days/5GB; and Pro is $7.99 per month for 60 days/10GB. Discounts are available for subscribing in three-month or 12-month blocks as opposed to monthly billing.

In addition to the storage, the paid plans add push notifications, the ability to limit the scope of motion detection (Activity Zone), and access to the Bird Fans Plan, a free add-on that promises to recognize more than 10,000 species of birds.

On the iOS platform, subscription billing is done via Apple Pay. I'm a fan of this method, as it makes it exceptionally easy to cancel. For new users, a 30-day trial of the Plus plan is included.

If you don't want to pay for a subscription, the camera includes a microSD slot. I tried it with a 64GB SanDisk card and it worked as expected, putting videos into the DCIM folder with subfolders for each day of action.

As for app features, they're pretty straightforward. You can pop in to view video from the camera to start a recording or snap a photo. Two-way audio, an alarm, and a light are also included, and there's a scheduler available to set sleep times. If you don't want to waste battery life overnight when birds aren't active, it's a good idea to set up a schedule. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any options based on local sunset and sunrise times.

There's an option to share access to the Birdkiss with friends and family. They'll need to download and install the VicoHome app, but once that's done it's just a matter of scanning a QR code to give them access.

The Bird Fans Plan promises to tell you when a bird is visiting the feeder, and that works very well. It also promises to tell you what species is stopping by for a snack. Unfortunately, the Birdkiss often gets it wrong.

Over the course of a few weeks, I had typical spring visitors for my area: black-capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers, house finches, northern cardinals, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, and white-throated sparrows were frequent diners.

The species recognition got these right sometimes, but more often than not, it'd throw out crazy suggestions: bright red male cardinals are flagged as scarlet ibises, black incas, or Papuan lorikeets (to name a few). The duller female cardinal is often tagged as Major Mitchell's cockatoo(Opens in a new window), which, I can assure you, it is not. It would usually get white-throated sparrows correct, but it failed to recognize chickadees consistently. I reported the accuracy issues to a representative for Birdkiss, who told me "[Birdkiss is] continuously working to optimize our AI recognition system and are actively addressing the specific issues you've mentioned."

Time will tell if things get better. At press time, the app doesn't seem to take the size of the bird or your geolocation into account, which means it's trying to match up against a much wider data set than it needs. If you're new to birding it's unwise to rely on the Birdkiss to tell you what kind of bird you're seeing. Instead, we recommend the Merlin Bird ID(Opens in a new window) app, which supports photo-based bird identification, works well, and is free.

The security camera that lives at the heart of the Birdkiss records HD video in MP4 format to a memory card and/or the cloud. Its default clip length is 20 seconds, which makes for a 4.5MB MP4 file. You can snap pictures too, but they are just frame grabs from video—2MP each in JPG format.

The low bit rate (1.7Mbps) H.264 footage is a bit pixelated, even in good light, and the 1080p/15fps quality is OK for phones, but suffers when viewed on a bigger screen. A date and time stamp are embedded in the top left corner and cannot be turned off. The ultra-wide 135-degree angle of view is able to get a good portion of the blue seed tray and orange perch in the frame. The camera angle is adjustable, so you can set it to see more or less of the seed tray. I got the best results with a slight downward angle.

Smartly, focus is set sharpest up close, so the birds are in clearest focus, while distant subjects are slightly blurred and pixelated. Infrared kicks in for nighttime footage, though you shouldn't expect much activity after sunset. I had a few early morning cardinals visit, and included a just-before-sunrise clip of one in the sample reel embedded above.

If you're looking for footage that calls for David Attenborough narration, it's just not here. We haven't tested Birdkiss' competitors, but most use similar security camera setups, so a huge disparity would be surprising.

For those seeking better footage from the on-feeder perspective, consider a DIY solution with any old feeder and a quality action camera like the GoPro Hero11 Black or the DJI Osmo Action 3. Otherwise, pick a comfortable nearby spot and grab a long-lens camera or an ultra-zoom phone like the Samsung Galaxy Ultra S23 to snap some photos.

The Birdkiss is meant to be used outside and includes some weatherproofing measures. The security camera itself is weatherproof to IP65 specifications and is shielded from the elements with a plastic housing and roof. The feeder's USB-C charge port faces down and is protected by a thick rubber gasket. In the three weeks I spent testing it, it kept working, and the solar panel kept the battery topped off even on gray days.

The downward-facing design isn't entirely without issue, though. My particular feeder installation is definitely not squirrel-proof, and at one point I walked out to find the USB-C cable disconnected from the solar panel. While I don't have direct evidence, I suspect a squirrel knocked the cable loose while climbing up to nab some food. This is one area where feeders that offer solar lid options have a leg up—there's less chance of a cable coming undone.

As for the squirrels, I spent my first week in a cold war with the normally cute backyard rodents, who found the basic wild bird mix to be an appealing, convenient meal. (Switching from a mix to straight safflower seed deterred them.) The feeder holds 1.25L of seed; I found myself going to fill it every four to five days. The feeder ships with a few holders for fruit if you want to attract robins, orioles, or others that enjoy oranges and apples.

I'm happy that the wide Velcro strap handled the weight of squirrels without a problem. There's little danger of the feeder falling to the ground once secured. It survived a very nasty patch of spring weather, a storm that generated lightning, winds, and some hail.

Like many smart home products, the Birdkiss takes a long-running concept and finds a way to add a cloud-connected tech element. Basic feeders can be DIY projects or impulse purchases during a weekend trip to the hardware store, but the Birdkiss carries a hefty $249.99 asking price, or a bit less if you catch it on sale.

Even with this in mind, I had a ball watching bird alerts pop up on my phone on days when I was stuck inside working on the computer. On the downside, the video quality isn't great—a 4K camera with less aggressive video compression would be a welcome upgrade. And I'd like to see sleep schedules built around sunrise and sunset times to better conserve power.

Likewise, the AI species recognition gets things wrong more than right, and while Birdkiss says it's working to improve the feature, it's not something I'd recommend paying for, though you may still find the cloud features to be worthwhile. For fans of no-cost, local storage, the camera includes a microSD slot.

So if you think you'll love a tech toy like the Birdkiss, you probably will. It doesn't deliver on all of its promises, but it's a fun distraction from the daily grind and a way for naturalists to get a better view of neighborhood fauna.

The Birdkiss brings bird watching into the modern age by putting a cloud-connected security camera into a backyard feeder, but its touted AI-powered species identification can be a bit birdbrained.

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