Bird feeder watching is a fascinating recreation that suits all ages, educating the young and entertaining the old. Installing a bird feeder camera is an excellent way to watch feeding birds in your garden without scaring them away. In today’s blog, we’re gonna introduce how to set up the HD bird feeder camera for feeder watching.
Which Type of Cameras to Choose
First of all, the bird feeder cameras must be waterproof for outdoor deployments. A few times of water splashes might not damage the electrical systems of the feeder cameras, but they could eventually lead to rusting of the higher-end bodies. Placing a waterproof bird feeder camera will give you peace of mind in all weather conditions without the concerns of water penetration or dust ingress. More importantly, every bird feeder camera should be equipped with motion sensors to detect the motion changes around the feeder and notify you at every trigger event. With such a feature, you will save lots of time waiting for wild birds to visit your feeder and engage in other business. Features like high definition, audio recording are also some important factors that help you decide what types of cameras to choose. To learn more, continue to read Functions Required in an Effective Bird Feeder Camera System to figure out the key features of a good bird feeder camera.
Watch on TV or smartphone?
Nowadays, there are a host of different bird feeder cameras that allows you to watch garden birds remotely on TV/HDMI-compatible monitors or other digital devices like smartphones, tablets and PCs. The TV/wired bird feeder camera features long lengths of cable to ensure reliability and high-quality images and provide the sharpest videos for its immunity to signal degradation and bandwidth fluctuation. The TV bird feeder camera usually works with an HDMI box/converter for signal conversion, allowing you to watch live feeds on your TV via an HDMI connection. No configuration is needed, just plug-and-see, which makes it ultra senior-friendly. Lately, we’ve unleashed a high-quality TV bird feeder camera that enables you to watch garden birds in stunning 700TVL from the comfort of your sofa. If you don’t want to run chunky cables across your garden, the wireless bird feeder camera is exactly what you need. The IP Bird Feeder Camera supports both PoE wired and WiFi connection, a highly functioned camera that delivers high-definition live videos with exceptional quality (1080p HD). Once configured through the app, you can watch live/recorded videos on your smartphone, tablet and PC anytime, anywhere with an Internet connection.
How far away is the feeder from your house?
To figure out what kind of cameras you need, you need to know how far you’re gonna put your camera away from your house. This is because both wired and wireless cameras have limitations in terms of distance. Even though it’s a WiFi bird feeder camera, you still need to run the power cord since most cameras are powered by the mains, so remember to measure the distance from the source camera to your router, DVR, AC outlet, etc. But we’ve launched a long-range bird feeder camera that can support the wireless transmission of up to 800 meters in a clear line of sight without severe image degradation, allowing you to watch different bird species outside the garden. Our Long Range Wireless IP Bird Feeder Camera shows excellent wall-penetrating capability and improved living streaming capacity. With this long-range wireless IP bird feeder camera, you can place your bird feeder at any desired places (natural habitats, forests, parks, etc.). Moreover, it’s also compatible with multiple power supplies, such as the mains, motorcycle batteries and solar power.
Night vision? Daytime LEDs?
Some feeder cameras only work in daylight only, but if you want to get footage of nocturnal fowls (night hawks, owls, mocking birds, etc.), you’d better choose models with night vision. Green Backyard’s bird feeder cameras feature incredible night vision using invisible infrared LEDs to capture sharp black and white images when all the natural light fades out. They adapt well to changing light conditions to deliver consistent images by switching between daytime and nighttime photography. Moreover, we’ve installed the daytime LEDs in the Mini WiFi Bird Feeder Camera to light up the shooting zone in low-light conditions. Compared with the conventional daylight LED lamps which need additional power supplies and depend largely on light sensors for operation, the daytime LEDs can be manually turned on/off to capture pin-sharp videos in poor lighting. Beware such daytime LEDs are limited to daytime use only and must be turned off when observing nocturnal birds.
How to Set up the Cameras for Feeder Watching
In this part, we’ll introduce 2 methods to install your bird feeder cameras for feeder watching.
1.Install the bird feeder camera in the feeder: Featuring a super-compact size, our bird feeder cameras can be installed directly in our specially made cedar bird feeder. There is an opening in the feeder where you can stick the mini bird feeder cameras into it and use the included bracket and screws to fix the camera. In this way, you can have a closer look at the wild birds as they are feeding on the food tray and monitor if the bird seeds have turned soggy or gone bad and change them in the quickest possible time. Or you can just use our special L shape bracket (sold separately) to mount the outdoor bird feeder camera to watch garden birds from different directions, giving you a more comprehensive perspective.
2.Mount the feeder camera on a pole or wall: Another feasible method is to attach the mini bird feeder camera to a pole or post with the pole mounting bracket. Using this tool, you can adjust the height and angle of the bird feeder camera to get an optimal field of view. In this way, the feeder camera can capture more details and the surrounding background. The pole mounting bracket is adjustable to accommodate different types of poles and posts in different dimensions. It gives you great flexibility on where to install the bird feeder camera (local parks, forests, etc.) and provides you with more opportunities to watch different bird species outside your garden. However, our first-generation bird feeder camera, the IP bird feeder camera, is normally installed on the wall due to its distinguished and noticeable appearance. Featuring a wide-angle lens, it’s suitable for photographing tube feeders, hummingbird feeders, etc.
Power Solutions: Mains, Motorcycle Batteries and Solar Power
To power up the feeder camera, you need to decide what kind of power solutions suit you most. The mains power is the traditional way to power the camera, in which you’ll need to cable long lengths of the power cord to the source camera from the nearest AC outlet. The mains power features a reliable and consistent power supply, but in places where there is no electrical infrastructure nearby, installing a new outlet would be ultra-expensive. So in such a situation, you can use motorcycle batteries, solar power and even power banks to power the bird feeder camera in hard-to-reach areas. If you’re interested in this topic, continue to read the article Choose Battery Powered or Solar Panel Systems for Wireless Bird Box Camera to get more information.
