It additionally comes with further plastic flowers and a little bit brush to scrub them with, and the app sends reminders as to when it is time to clear. As with the Hen Buddy Professional seed feeder, the sensor doesn’t at all times choose up each chicken that visits, which might undoubtedly be a bummer whenever you see one thing fascinating out the window however it doesn’t present up within the app. Hopefully, this can be remedied on subsequent app updates.
A Distinctive Good Birdhouse
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
Birdfy
Nest Polygon Good Birdhouse
Birdfy’s new Polygon Good Birdhouse isn’t the primary good birdhouse available on the market, however it’s the most interesting-looking. The parallelogram-esque, turquoise-paneled form gained a Gold award at 2024’s French Design Awards, and it’s straightforward sufficient to mount on a pole, fence, or tree. All of the digital camera tools is positioned in an easy-to-open rear hatch, and there’s even a distant management on the finish of a 10-foot twine to have the ability to cost (although it has a built-in photo voltaic panel, so that you doubtless gained’t have to) or reset the 1080p digital camera.
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
It is easy to combine with the easy-to-use Birdfy app, which is prepared and ready to assemble a chicken’s shareable “story,” from meeting of the nest to hatching to fledgling, and at last “the tip,” when the nest is deserted for the season. Word that the digital camera does emit an audible click on each time it is triggered by motion or the app, and the within is a little bit bigger than most birds would naturally gravitate to. Our take a look at home did not entice any guests this yr, however a mission director for Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch stated it ought to solely be a matter of time.
Greatest App
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
Hen Buddy
Good Hen Feeder Professional
Hen Buddy’s latest improve seems to be a lot the identical as its soon-to-be-phased-out unique feeder, save for a snazzy new HDR digital camera that may additionally shoot 2K HD video with slow-motion functionality. It has been going sturdy in my yard for over 4 months now. Along with having a visibly bigger and extra superior lens, the digital camera’s now received a bigger focus vary, wider area of view, and high-fidelity microphone. (A subscription to Premium for $7.50 a month unlocks 2K Extremely with the next video bitrate, permitting for richer colours, sharper photographs, and fewer background noise, however it’s completely usable with out this. )
The pictures aren’t almost as spectacular because the Birdfy Duo’s or Camojojo Hibird’s, and the digital camera, frustratingly, solely captures a handful of the birds that go to. (The non-solar model is at present flagged as a ceaselessly returned merchandise on Amazon attributable to each this and charging points, so I like to recommend the photo voltaic model.) However the app is a standout, with a user-friendly design and loads of useful alerts, like if a cat is detected close by, or if it is time to clear the feeder. It additionally serves you insights gathered over time, like what time sure species appear to choose to go to. (Finches apparently like to go to my yard at 10 am day by day.) The Hen Buddy additionally “sleeps” at night time and doesn’t appear to emphasise capturing pictures of individuals, so it would not make a sensible choice to double as a safety digital camera. Each Hen Buddys work with 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi solely.
Screenshot courtesy of Kat Merck
Set up choices embrace a hanger or common mount for a standard-size pole (not included). In case you reside in an space frequented by squirrels, I extremely advocate abiding by Hen Buddy’s “5-7-9” rule for siting your feeder: 5 toes off the bottom, 7 toes away from timber or buildings, and 9 toes of clearance above it. Squirrels have not proven curiosity in chewing my Hen Buddy Professional, which is hanging from a shepherd’s hook close to a tree, however they may swing on it, spilling a lot of the seed.
One of many largest downsides of each Hen Buddys is the infuriatingly small, hinged opening for filling the 4 cups’ price of seed. The feeder comes with its personal spouted cup, however I’ve but to fill the feeder with out making an unlimited mess. I additionally examined the 3-in-1 Diet Set ($39), which features a screw-on tray that may variably change into a water fountain, jelly dish, or fruit stake for fruit-loving species like orioles. I’ve used it as a jelly dish and water fountain and located that it blocks sufficient of the perch space that birds are likely to shift out of digital camera view to keep away from it. General, this improve over the unique could also be price it should you plan to benefit from a few of the app’s sharing options, particularly Premium’s potential to share your feeder livestream with others.
Greatest for DIY
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
If in case you have an present chicken feeder you want, or are concerned with constructing your individual and are simply on the lookout for a digital camera, you are able to do a lot worse than the Hibird DIY. It is appropriate with each 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz Wi-Fi bands—a rarity for chicken feeder cameras—and the lovable inexperienced owl face streams the identical 4K HD video and 1080p pics as the larger Hibird feeder, above. No subscription is required, although a Hibird rep says that will change sooner or later. There’s an auxiliary photo voltaic panel included for charging, and you’ll mount it by way of its ¼-inch nut on the included bendable arm and bracket, or jury-rig a customized resolution. It pairs seamlessly with the Hibird app, with entry to AI (which is simply OK), livestreaming, and the Dr. Hen Chat GPT-like function, the place you’ll be able to ask bird-related questions. (The solutions are corny and never as granular as they may very well be, however it nonetheless may very well be helpful for some.)
Evaluate Our High Feeder Picks
Honorable Mentions
Birdfy
Bathtub Professional
A decrease upkeep method to get pleasure from birds in your yard, this recycled-plastic birdbath comes outfitted with a dual-lens digital camera sending 1080p pictures and 2K video by way of the Birdfy app and using the app’s AI for chicken identification. With the IP66-rated birdbath’s sturdy steel base (you’ll be able to purchase it for much less with out) and solar-powered battery and fountain pump, all I needed to do was be certain that the three.5-liter, 1.65-inch reservoir was topped off with water. Theoretically. In actuality, it solely took 24 hours for me to understand this new toy was not really serving as a birdbath in my yard however as a high traffic hand-washing station for raccoons. This nonetheless would have been an entertaining expertise had it not been for a similar downside that plagued Birdfy’s Professional Duo feede: a consistently dropping digital camera connection. Even when the birdbath was stationed immediately outdoors the wall the place my router was, the digital camera would go offline at the very least as soon as a day—typically a number of occasions a day. Rebooting remedied the difficulty for one more 12 hours or so, however then it went proper again offline. Just like the Professional Duo, that is an in any other case quality-made and -engineered product, and I am hoping Birdfy can work out the digital camera kinks.
Birdfy
Feeder 2 Duo
Birdfy’s flagship improve for 2025, winner of this yr’s CES Innovation Award and an American Good Design Gold Award, has the most effective photograph and video high quality of any Birdfy good feeder. There’s one dual-lens front-facing digital camera (2-MP/1080p extensive angle and 3-MP/2K portrait) and one 2-MP/1080p aspect digital camera, and each seize sharp, extremely detailed video with high-quality sound. The front-facing digital camera will even pan and crop to make sure it is centered on a chicken. (Word that there is additionally a less expensive, single-camera model of the Feeder 2 that we’ve not examined.) The feeder’s IP66-rated plastic physique, which has held up very nicely to this point in Pacific Northwest winter climate, is wall-, pole-, or tree-mountable. An auxiliary photo voltaic panel and lifelong AI chicken identification are each included. The reservoir holds barely much less seed than the unique plastic Birdfy, at 42 ounces vs. Birdfy 1’s 50 ounces, which is simply as nicely, as this feeder appears to be a magnet for squirrels who wish to chew on it and steal the seed. I had fixed bother with the rodents chewing off the edges and compartment dividers throughout my two months of testing. Like the unique Birdfy, there have been some points with non-bird motion triggering the digital camera, however total I used to be impressed with each the picture high quality and the Birdfy app’s up to date AI identification. That stated, there are some critical flaws that stored this digital camera from incomes high billing. Each cameras repeatedly dropped connections throughout the two-month testing interval, though I used to be utilizing the required 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi community (Birdfy cameras can’t run on 5 GHz). The photo voltaic panel, which should be mounted individually, additionally didn’t maintain the cameras constantly charged in cloudy climate. I additionally didn’t love that the cameras didn’t work in tandem—they do not provide views in the identical app window as with the Birdfy Hum, beneath. Birdfy says it will quickly be rectified with an app replace, so potential consumers might wish to wait till Birdfy works out some extra kinks.
Kiwibit
Beako 4K Good Hen Feeder
The Beako is likely one of the extra thoughtfully designed chicken feeders I’ve examined. The plastic seed reservoir is detachable from the IP65 physique for refilling, so you do not have to take the entire thing down; the 3-watt photo voltaic panel can mount onto the again for pole set up; and the 8-MP pictures and 4K HD video are a lot better high quality than you may discover from rivals. The entire setup is absolutely purposeful with out a subscription, although one is important to entry all options. I additionally like that the movies file so long as a chicken is doing one thing fascinating, even when it is a number of minutes lengthy. The one draw back is that the photo voltaic panel stopped working after about six weeks. I used to be nonetheless capable of cost the battery, however I would choose to not have this further activity.
Harymor
Hen Feeder With Digital camera
This Amazon feeder’s app leaves a lot to be desired, however it does get main factors for staying absolutely charged for 2 months with its 3-watt built-in roof photo voltaic panel, regardless of getting little or no solar in my Pacific Northwest winter yard. Like many cheap feeder cameras, a lot of the Harymor’s marketed options—equivalent to AI identification and the flexibility to take 2K video—are hidden behind a subscription paywall ($4 a month, or $48 a yr), on this case within the VicoHome app. Nonetheless, even when the subscription is activated, the AI is flawed extra typically than it is proper.
Sehmua
Hen Feeder With Digital camera
From the identical makers because the Harymor chicken feeder, above, the Sehmua is almost equivalent to the Harymor, however with out the built-in photo voltaic roof. The panel it comes with must be mounted individually. I used to be particularly amused by the field it arrived in, which contains a hummingbird. (That is, after all, a seed feeder.) Not like different feeders that additionally require an auxiliary photo voltaic panel, the Sehmua has a bizarre USB-C dongle that hangs off the again; it’s not detachable, and it’s used for charging the digital camera as nicely. What the Sehmua does have going for it over the Harymor, although, is far improved AI, which additionally hyperlinks to a chicken species’ Wikipedia web page and provides choices for corrections. It’s additionally absolutely usable out of the field with a yearlong free-trial subscription—a rarity amongst chicken feeders on this worth vary—by way of the user-friendly Ubox app. Specs for the digital camera weren’t offered, however the photograph and video high quality are fairly strong, although not as sharp as Hen Buddy’s or Birdfy’s. The sphere of view can be respectable, at 140 levels. There is a lifetime free subscription model for $10 extra, which Sehmua’s rep assures me is in any other case precisely the identical. I additionally like that this one’s app labels all captures with a chicken ID, so you’ll be able to scroll down the day’s listing and instantly see what’s price clicking on.
FeatherSnap
Scout Good Hen Feeder
Former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano examined the FeatherSnap Scout when it debuted in June 2024, and I retested it in early 2025. It is received a twin feed bay (4.2 cups both sides, for a complete of 8.4 cups capability), built-in photo voltaic panel, expandable perch, and fairly strong 4-MP photograph decision, the readability and high quality of which have been on par with costlier cameras just like the Hen Buddy. There’s additionally an choice to view video in 0.5-speed slo-mo. As with a lot of the cheaper cameras, nonetheless, most of the options (like AI identification and video) are hidden behind a subscription. I didn’t discover the ornithologist-trained AI identification to be tremendous correct, and the app was total cumbersome to make use of, taking some time to load after which requiring a number of steps to have interaction the AI function. I additionally did not like that customers should make an account that requires an deal with and telephone quantity simply to make use of the feeder, even when they’re not shopping for a premium plan. And in the event that they are shopping for a premium plan, they’ll’t do it via the app retailer. They should undergo Feathersnap’s web site, which requires coming into uncooked bank card data—no various pay choices like PayPal or Apple Pay—and their deal with as soon as once more. I additionally discovered it robotically charged my bank card on the finish of the monthlong subscription function with out warning, and there was no choice to cease the recurring cost apart from deleting my account.
FeatherSnap
Good Hummingbird Feeder
FeatherSnap simply launched its new HD-camera hummingbird feeder in Could 2025, however just like the Scout, it solely helps nonetheless pictures and a reside feed with out a subscription, which is a problem to enroll in and troublesome to cancel. It additionally holds as much as 4 cups of nectar, however there are not any directions on how lengthy one ought to go away liquid within the feeder (hummingbirds can change into ailing and die shortly from spoiled nectar), and that quantity appears extreme for a number of days’ price. That stated, that is in any other case a sturdy and well-made feeder with a number of mounting choices, an ant moat on high, and a handy built-in photo voltaic panel that does a terrific job of holding a cost, even throughout prolonged cloudy durations. Regardless of the effort with FeatherSnap’s subscription scenario, described above, this feeder skilled no connectivity or different points throughout my testing interval.
PeckPerk
Good Hen Feeder With 2K Digital camera
One of the crucial unique-looking good feeders available on the market, the PeckPerk sports activities a teardrop form impressed by a weaver chicken nest, fronted by a 5-inch-long perch styled to seem like twigs. Of specific curiosity to me, a few of its early internet copy promoted it as “squirrel proof.” I couldn’t work out why this is likely to be till 7 am one Saturday morning, once I heard what appeared like a tinny burglar alarm ringing someplace past the bushes outdoors my lounge window. I went outdoors, and lo and behold, a squirrel was sitting on the PeckPerk, munching away at a sunflower seed whereas a high-pitched alarm blared proper in its face. I might inform this was not the primary time this had occurred (sorry, neighbors!), because the squirrel was utterly unfazed. PeckPerk does get factors for making an attempt, although. (And it must be famous this alarm is definitely disabled.) It additionally will get factors for being exceedingly straightforward to fill, being one of many few feeders that may mount nicely on a tree or on a tripod, and having strong night time imaginative and prescient with its 2K digital camera. Nonetheless, not solely does it require a subscription to file video and the mounting of an auxiliary photo voltaic panel, limiting the place it may be positioned, the app interface was extraordinarily rudimentary in contrast with different feeders’ and by no means intuitive.
Harymor
Hummingbird Feeder With Digital camera
I anticipated this hummingbird feeder to look considerably like its seed-feeder sibling, above, however apart from its additionally utilizing the VicoHome app, it bears completely zero resemblance. It’s received a humorous little pink umbrella-shaped high, and the field, which contains a vaguely Asian-themed font, has no model title listed. I do like that it comes with an enormous bottle brush and a smaller brush for the flowers, and that it has interchangeable lavender and bluish-purple flowers to go together with the usual yellow. I used considered one of every to see if there was one our resident Anna’s hummingbirds most popular, however they appeared indiscriminately concerned with all of them. Just like the seed feeder, there are solely nonetheless pictures and reside feed with out an extra subscription, and I didn’t love what number of false alarms gave the impression to be recorded. There’s an indentation on the lid that holds water for an ant moat, however for the reason that photo voltaic panel should be mounted individually, ants might simply use the twine to achieve the feeder.
Birdfy
Hum Feeder Duo
Birdfy’s Hum Feeder Duo is the hummingbird feeder model of the Duo seed feeder, above. Each variations of the Hum include a transparent, BPA-free, anti-mold bottle that screws right into a pink base with a trio of plastic flowers. The duo has two 3-MP 2K cameras—one front-facing and one side-facing. The cameras cost collectively and work collectively to supply a side-by-side view within the app. I had zero issues with setup—after an in a single day cost, the feeder was up and working in about 10 minutes. One cost lasted a little bit over every week in Pacific Northwest November temperatures, although for $20 extra you’ll be able to spring for the photo voltaic panel add-on with a patented ant moat (I’ve not tried this but). I respect that the app exhibits battery life alongside temperature and humidity, which is useful for gauging when to exchange the liquid, though a extra specific notification like Hen Buddy’s could be useful. Just like the seed feeder above, nonetheless, my testing interval was not with out problem. In actual fact, I solely had the Hum up for a pair weeks earlier than the sensor appeared to have failed, often capturing wind-driven movement however failing to register any birds. It is also at present flagged on Amazon as a ceaselessly returned merchandise attributable to charging points.
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
Courtesy of Limitless Improvements
Limitless Improvements
Hiya Birdie
It is a strong, well-constructed IP65 feeder that is usable with out a subscription, and I appreciated the loop on the high for simple hanging from a shepherd’s hook. It additionally has as squirrel sensor that makes comical hawk noises when it spots a rodent (it even works on rats, as I came upon one unlucky night). However the photograph decision will not be good regardless of being marketed as 1080p, the AI is abysmal, and the photo voltaic panel didn’t cost and even complement the battery on two take a look at fashions I attempted. There are a lot better feeders on the market for half the worth.
FAQs
How Does WIRED Take a look at Hen Feeders?
I take a look at all feeders in my rural-surburban yard within the Pacific Northwest. I mount seed feeders on a 1-inch pole with a baffle, utilizing the offered mounting {hardware} and hose clamps. If pole mounting is not possible, I mount on a fence. I hold hummingbird feeders from a shepherd’s hook mounted on the aspect of my home. I fill the seed feeders with Audubon Wild Park chicken seed and the hummingbird feeders with a nectar combination of 4-to-1 granulated sugar and water. I maintain every feeder up for at least 4 weeks, with all app notifications enabled.
I have a look at all app options out there each with a subscription or with out, seeing how typically I get notifications and noting whether or not they’re precisely selecting up simply birds or any sort of out of doors motion, and the way nicely the AI function is ready to distinguish chicken species. I additionally have a look at connectivity, seed capability, video high quality, and the way nicely the feeder our bodies maintain as much as squirrels and inclement climate.
Feeder samples are both offered by firms or bought and expensed, and both donated afterward or stored in storage for comparability with newer or related fashions or manufacturers.
What Do I Have to Know Earlier than Setting Up a Good Feeder?
Preserve feeders tremendous clear. The very last thing you wish to do to your feathered visitors is make them ailing from consuming moldy seeds or unfold avian ailments. Each two weeks, scrub feeders with heat, soapy water after which both soak them in a single half bleach to 9 elements water or one half white vinegar to at least one half water—each strategies are really helpful by Audubon. Rinse and dry totally earlier than including extra seed (you do not need bleach residue both). Control chicken flu outbreaks and take note of what the birds seem like at your individual feeders. In case you suspect one thing, you may wish to take away the feeder till issues look higher.
Solely get a hummingbird feeder should you’re devoted to maintaining it spotless. You’ll want to be much more diligent about cleanliness right here. You’ll want to clear a hummingbird feeder each two to 3 days. Nectar sitting within the solar harbors micro organism development shortly, which might trigger hummingbird tongues to swell and virtually at all times ends of their demise. Pink attracts these birds, however do not use pink nectar. There are not any research conclusively proving that dye harms birds, however at finest it is pointless and at worst would possibly make them sick. As a substitute, go for feeders with pink items to get their consideration or stick with planting hummingbird-friendly flowers and skip the feeder altogether.
Add a water supply too.Birds want clear water for ingesting and bathing, so you can also make your yard extra of an oasis by offering it. Birdfy makes a good birdbath, reviewed above, or you may also make your individual fountain out of something—even a favourite pot, or a bucket—utilizing a photo voltaic pump equipment. I am at present testing this one and can report again. The identical cleansing method outlined above goes for baths. You may as well contemplate including common chicken homes—analog or a wise model, like Birdfy’s Polygon, above—for birds to nest.
Give birds time. You doubtless will not see birds at your feeder day one. Give them time to seek out it and belief it. If after just a few weeks you continue to haven’t got guests, it is likely to be time to reevaluate what sort of chicken seeds you are utilizing or the place you have positioned it.
{Photograph}: Kat Merck
As is the case with any chicken feeder, squirrels like to eat at good chicken feeders, which aren’t squirrel-proof, no matter advertising and marketing claims. Nonetheless, a lot of the good feeders we’ve examined are simply as sturdy, if not in some instances sturdier, than analog chicken feeders. If the feeder is hanging, the worst that may in all probability occur is that the squirrel’s weight will trigger it to swing wildly, spilling seed onto the bottom. If it’s mounted, the worst-case state of affairs is probably going the squirrel consuming all of the seed, chewing the sides, and overlaying up the digital camera with its fuzzy butt.
The yard the place I take a look at good feeders year-round is awful with the big and chronic rodents, and the squirrel harm I’ve sustained on take a look at feeders has been minor. With the Birdfy Professional Duo, beneath, the animals chewed off the sides to raised get on the seed provide when it was low, and the FeatherSnap Scout had its mounting bent. High of thoughts is the 5-7-9 technique of siting a chicken feeder—at the very least 5 toes off the bottom, at the very least 7 toes away from any buildings, and at the very least 9 toes away from something a squirrel might soar from (branches, fences, roofs).
An alternative choice is an aftermarket baffle added to feeders hanging on shepherd’s hooks, or a pole with a built-in baffle, like this one supplied by Birdfy. An alternative choice is utilizing seed handled with capsaicin, or scorching pepper. Birds don’t have capsaicin receptors like mammals do, so that they’re not affected by the style. That stated, I’ve discovered capsaicin solely retains squirrels away for a few days, whether or not as a result of they’ve gotten used to it or the pepper loses its efficiency when uncovered to the weather. As a final resort, you could possibly at all times simply be taught to reside with the squirrels and dedicate a feeder to them, though my neighbor does this and I am of the thoughts it brings much more squirrels to the realm.
