Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy cameras around the world, including in locations beyond the continental U.S. like Hawaii, Kenya, Chile, and Bhutan.The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards.
The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, over 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.
To use Explore, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS or Android, which was previously designed only for owners of the comapny’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, and then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.
Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.“We are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily
connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.
“That’s why we’re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots, and a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feed.
To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing over 1,000 species of birds.
