Are you ready to take your bird watching to the next level? Install a bird box camera now to get a unique insight into the life of nesting birds in your garden – from egg laying to chick hatching to mommy and daddy feeding their young. All caught on camera. You can get the most candid pictures and videos of the birds and see them like never more. Binoculars can only give you a distant view, while bird box cameras can provide you with a closer look at these lovely creatures with as little disturbance as possible.
There are a variety of bird box cameras available on the market, including wireless, wired, etc., and models that can be viewed on a smartphone, tablet, PC and even on TV. And in this blog, we’ll review the best bird box cameras of the year.
Product of the Year [2022 Review]
Best budget bird box camera kit: WiFi Bird Box Camera Bundle
Best for nest boxes: WiFi Bird Box Camera with Wireless Repeater
Best for wildlife monitoring: Long Range Wireless Outdoor IP Bird Box Camera
Best with wired connection: Bird Box Camera HD Network Cable Connection
Best for TV viewing: Birdhouse Camera HD with Wireless Transmission
1. Best Buy – WiFi Bird Box Camera Bundle
Our best pick in the review of the best bird box camera is the WiFi bird box camera bundle. It’s a great option for anyone looking for a reliable, easy-to-install birdhouse camera with all the features of much more expensive, high-quality models. The camera resolution is at 3MP and so will give a you reasonably good high-definition picture. The invisible infrared LEDs can provide a clear view at night. A highly sensitive microphone is also incorporated so you can hear every cheep and whistle inside the birdhouse.
Equipped with a wide-angle lens, the WiFi bird box cameras yields a 120-degree angle range so that you can cover every corner of the birdhouse. The camera lens is also fully adjustable, so you’ll be able to set the ideal viewing angle. Once connected to the network, this bird box camera will automatically record and stream the live feeds to your smartphone, tablet, and PC. You can schedule recording time with the app or activate the motion sensor to start recording when birds are active. The bird box camera also includes a memory card slot so that you can record the best moments.
And this bundle also includes a hand-crafted cedar birdhouse, which is made of non-toxic and responsibly sourced material. The roof is removable so you can clean the nest box at the end of the season and get it ready for the next brood. A window on the side of the birdhouse is covered with a clear plastic panel, which lets in enough light to enable colorful videos. The base of the box has four ventilation holes to circulate the air inside and evacuate the water.
2. Runner Up – WiFi Bird Box Camera with Wireless Repeater
This kit is more suitable for someone who already owns a birdhouse and desires a WiFi setup for the program. This bundle includes a WiFi bird box camera, a wireless repeater, and other accessories. The repeater helps you seamlessly boost the signal strength and effectively extend the coverage area of your WiFi network to your garden. It supports the wireless transmission of up to 150ft at a clear line of sight, so your birdhouse doesn’t need to be close to your home. It’s a good option for someone looking for a more advanced wireless setup.
Versatile, waterproof and feature-rich, this WiFi bird box camera records birds in 3MP high resolution and produces full-color images during the day. The microphone is contained inside the camera so it won’t be intrusive to the birds. With adjustable angle and focus, this bird box camera can be placed at the top of the nest box for the best view to show the entrance and nesting area. It uses invisible infrared LED lights (both invisible to humans and animals) to provide enough illumination at night. It’s also equipped with a sensitive ICR switch that will automatically switch the camera to the infrared mode when the light in the nest box dims.
And by simple configurations, you can watch the videos on your mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, in real time. Sharing the footage with other members of your family is easy by scanning the QR code. And there’s a memory card slot on the receiver to provide additional storage space on the device.
3. Long Range Wireless Outdoor IP Bird Box Camera
Specially designed for wildlife monitoring, this long-range wireless outdoor IP bird box camera supports a transmission range of 200-300 meters with a significantly improved WiFi signal, giving you more flexibility on where to place the nest box. An additional camera can also be connected to the receiver if desired, but video quality might degrade as the distance increases as there are two cameras sharing the bandwidth.
The viewing angle of this long-range wireless IP bird box camera is 120° to give you the best viewing of the box’s inhabitants. By adjusting the bird box camera’s angle and focus, you can clearly see all the wonderful details, right down to the smallest scratches on the bird’s eggs. It’s equipped with invisible infrared LEDs to deliver the best possible images in low-light conditions. Video captured at night will switch to black and white.
Download the iCSee app and watch the nesting birds on any iOS or Android device in 1080p HD. And this app also allows you to configure motion detection or schedule recording. Push message notification is also available when the bird box camera detects any activities inside the birdhouse. It also has a MicroSD slot that lets you directly capture footage on the bird box camera and edit it on the phone. By the way, this bird box camera can be not only powered from a mains supply but also by an external rechargeable battery using the 12V battery cable.
4. Bird Box Camera HD Network Cable Connection
This IP bird box camera features a simple plug-and-play installation using a single Ethernet cable for both power and data connection, which saves you a lot of trouble running long cables across your backyard. One of the advantages of using a wired bird box camera is that it will not be affected by signal fluctuation, bad weather or neighbor’s networks. It can deliver a robust and reliable signal at all times, so you don’t need to worry about not getting enough WiFi signal or being out of range!
This wired bird box camera has an ultra-high resolution of 4 megapixels to see the fine details of the birds. And there is a built-in microphone so you can see as well as hear what’s going on. Moreover, an adjustable lens is also equipped allowing you to fine-tune the focus. This bird box camera can also handle night vision by using infrared LEDs, providing you with a glimpse into a world of birds’ nesting life, albeit in black and white. And like the other models, this bird box camera is also waterproof, which gives you peace of mind in outdoor applications. You can place the camera outside the bird box, on a feeder or mount it on a post.
Since this bird box camera directly connects to your router via a network cable, the camera can not only be viewed on your phone, but also on your tablet and PC. All you need to do is set the camera up, download the app and then start streaming. You can schedule recording time with the app or activate the motion sensor to start recording when birds are active. And there is the option to set up motion detection recording to save only the highlights on your memory card. This model supports a large storage capacity of up to 256GB (SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I series).
5. Birdhouse Camera HD with Wireless Transmission
Looking for a bird box camera that can be viewed on both TV and mobile? This birdhouse camera can give you the best of both worlds. The birdhouse camera transmits video and audio over the airwaves to the receiver in your home, and the maximum transmission range can reach 50 meters. The receiver will pick up the signals and stream the footage directly to your TV via an HDMI cable. While it has all the functionality of a wired or wireless setup, its wireless connectivity gives you access to the mobile world. By connecting the receiver to your home router via a network cable, you can view the images on your phone.
Most TV bird box cameras can only support a limited definition of merely 700TVL, but this birdhouse camera can generate high-resolution videos at a resolution of 3MP. You can see the fine details of the birds and get a good view of the chicks as they hatch. A highly sensitive microphone (7000 Hz) is also incorporated for audio recording, so you can hear the most authentic bird sounds. The camera is also equipped with invisible infrared LEDs to provide enough illumination at night without giving off a red glow that might disturb the birds. If it’s dark inside the bird box, the infrared light should probably be on all the time.
Tips For Buying a Bird Box Camera
Since there are multiple choices out there in the market, the following aspects should be taken into thorough consideration when choosing a bird box camera.
Budget
First thing first, always choose one within the budget as well as at a reasonable price. You can roughly browse the shopping websites and set an ideal budget so as not to overpay for something that isn’t even compatible with the price. Keep in mind that although there are exceptions where low-priced units outperform the expensive ones, expectations should still be managed accordingly when you purchase some fairly inexpensive units.
Wired or Wireless?
The bird box cameras can be roughly classified into wired and wireless according to how they transmit data. Wired bird box cameras tend to offer better image quality because there is a direct connection to the Internet. However, this means that you will have to find a way to run the cables from the garden into your house. With a wireless bird box, the footage can be transmitted wirelessly to your router, and you can watch the birds directly on your phone, tablet or PC. However, the drawback is that most of the WiFi bird box cameras at the market often get quite weak reception, so your camera should be kept within 20 meters of the router.
Complete Kit or Camera Only?
Whether to get a complete kit or just the bird box camera depends on whether your friends have a birdhouse already. If your friends already have one in their backyards and they have no plan to set up one more birdhouse, then you’d better go with the camera only. And it would be better to keep the birdhouse the birds are comfortable living in. The biggest advantage of buying a bundle is that the birdhouse is specifically designed to work with the bird box camera, so you don’t need to worry that the camera will take up too much space.
Must-Have Features
Look for a high-resolution nest box camera to make sure you can get decent image quality. It should have a wide viewing angle that covers the interior of the bird box. The adjustable lens is also a must to fine-tune the best focus. If you’re monitoring a bird that is most active at night, the importance of having a night-vision nest box camera becomes even more evident to produce the light (invisible to animals) needed for recording. A MicroSD slot is also highly recommended to record the images directly to the camera. For outdoor applications, the bird box camera must be waterproof, or it’ll soon get damaged in bad weather.
Final Conclusion
Whether you’re seriously considering buying a bird box camera for your nest box or looking for a decent present for your wildlife-loving friend, this review is sure to find the best model to take your birdwatching to the next level.
