Birdfy Bath Pro Smart Bird Bath with Camera Review

About the Birdfy Bath Pro Smart Bird Bath with Camera

Specifications

• Color: Blue, off-white
• Dimensions: 16 inches x 30 inches
• Water capacity: 3.5 liters
• Camera resolution: Wide-angle lens 2MP & 1080p; portrait lens 3MP and 2K
• Waterproof: Yes, IP66-rated
• Solar power: Yes

The Birdfy Bath Pro Smart Bird Bath with Camera is like a traditional bird bath, but fit with a camera. It comes in two colors, has a dual-camera that detects motion, and offers AI bird identification, depending on your subscription to the app.

What we like

It looks cute

With its adorable robin’s egg blue color, this bird bath fits seamlessly into the natural setting of the garden or yard without calling attention to itself, although it does have a modern aesthetic. It boasts an adjustable height that you can modify up to about 30 inches.

Its perfectly round shape makes a great splash pad for backyard birds, especially with its central fountain, which comes with several different caps you can interchange for different spray patterns.

It’s solar powered

Once you initially charge the camera battery out of the box, you will never have to again, thanks to the integrated solar panel. It sits right atop the camera for full sun exposure and keeps the camera charged right up.

Additionally, the fountain has its own solar panel to keep it circulating water during daylight hours.

The fountain adds atmosphere to your backyard

Nothing is more serene than the sound of trickling water. Pair that with a shooting spray of water, and you’ve got some seriously relaxing vibes happening. As we mentioned previously, the Birdfy bath comes with several caps so you can switch up the spray pattern.

But this fountain isn’t just to improve the mood—it keeps the bird bath’s water circulating, which prevents the buildup of mold and algae, and leaves from settling onto the bottom.

Camera is tops

The camera that fulfills the “smart” part of Birdfy’s bird bath features a dual-lens front camera with a wide-angle lens and a portrait lens. This means that when motion kicks the camera on, it captures the bird bath and surroundings from multiple angles. Both cameras are high-definition and offer excellent detail, even at night.

It automatically captures video when triggered by motion. However, you can use the app to watch live, record live, and capture photo snapshots.

To boot, the camera has an IP66 waterproof rating, which indicates it can be outdoors and withstand powerful streams of water (including from a hose), but not submersion.

What we don’t like

It loses water easily

The circular bowl of the bird bath measures 16 inches across and is slightly more than an inch and a half deep—that’s shallow, but not shallow. The basin also has a lip all the way around to prevent water from running out.

However, on multiple occasions over the course of testing, we have found that the water inexplicably leaks out. We have to attribute this to the fountain spray, because the underside of the basin does not leak—and we’ve checked.

We’ve tried a few tactics to see if we could stop this from happening—leveling the base, although it was close already, changing the cap to change the spray formation—but it continues to leak water. This may not be a problem for you if you’re in the yard daily to refill it, but for us, it was a hassle to unwind our hose, stretch it across the lawn, and fill it up every morning.

Birds don’t seem to like it

We’ve had the Birdfy Bath out in the garden for about one month, in early summer. During this time, we’ve not had a single bird stop by for a water break. We’ll give context that our yard is loaded with bird feeders and a dozen or more varieties of backyard birds.

Why don’t the birds seem to want to take a plunge? We have no idea.

Motion detection is overly sensitive

Despite the absence of birds using the Birdfy Bath, its cameras send notifications to our phone multiple times daily. Sometimes it’s a car driving by or a person in the yard, sometimes it's a flower waving in the wind, sometimes it’s unclear what set off the motion detection, even in the middle of the night.

If you don’t mind the pings, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if you do, we can’t find a way to shut them off or tone it down without disallowing it for the app entirely.

AI features

The Birdfy Bath Pro uses AI recognition algorithm to identify the birds that come to bathe. Since we haven’t yet had a bird visit, we can’t comment on its capabilities. However, it’s the same one it uses for its Netvue Birdfy Feeder, which we have tested and found to give hit-or-miss results. We will update this review when we can discuss the most up-to-date version of its AI ID software.

What owners are saying

The Birdfy Bath is a new product, so there just aren’t many people talking about it yet. We managed to find a few owner reviews at retailers.

• Amazon: AWIldBirdLover gives the Birdfy Bath 5 stars and says, “Birdfy continues to lead in bird-focused camera technology, and this bird bath is a perfect example of their innovation. It is thoughtfully designed with a shallow basin and a center solar-powered fountain that includes a built-in filter to prevent clogging. The fountain automatically shuts off when the water level gets too low, which helps protect the motor. A quick tip: Birds tend to be wary of baths where they cannot see the bottom. Since the inside of this bath is all one color, consider placing a few rocks inside, with at least one peeking above the water. This helps them gauge the depth and feel more secure.” We’ll have to try that.
• Best Buy: Best Buy sells the Birdfy, but it has no customer reviews yet.

Should You Buy the Birdfy Bath Pro Smart Bird Bath with Camera

Maybe

For us—middle-aged and loving a good birdwatching hobby—the prospect of capturing a little birdie splash around up close counters the Birdfy Bath Pro’s negatives, which are just nuisances. Only if a bird were brave enough to use it. The price point of the Birdfy Bath Pro (available at Amazon) retails for $300 (although it's often on sale), so if you don’t like upwards of 25 phone notifications daily that probably don’t involve birds, then this might be too steep a price to pay. In our experience so far, there’s little reward, and we all love a reward. Disappointing. But we can say from our experience with smart bird feeders that when the birds do finally come to bathe, it’s totally worth it.