Prime Day's surprise hit: BirdBuddy video bird feeder

The Verge readers are flocking to the BirdBuddy deal posted at the beginning of Prime Day, and it's easy to see why. The BirdBuddy Pro with Solar Panels is a wholesome upgrade for your yard, but the full price of $299 is tough to stomach. After all, the BirdBuddy is essentially a video doorbell and solar panels stuck to a bird feeder, something you could assemble yourself in an hour for under $100.

Specialized features like bird recognition and naming are locked behind a subscription, so you’re looking at a potentially costly investment for your yard. On the other hand, the discounted Prime Day price of $168 at Amazon is a lot more palatable — and probably why it’s been the most unexpected hit of all the things we posted. The steep sale likely reflects the fact that Birdbuddy has new bird feeders in the works.

The company announced a pair of new video bird feeders at CES in January. The BirdBuddy 2, which will retail for $199, has a rotating camera with a wider field of view that can take landscape or portrait postcards, but otherwise is very similar to the Pro with solar panels. They were briefly available for pre-order, and made their way to some reviewers and scattered buyers, but aren’t currently listed on the BirdBuddy website.

The BirdBuddy 2 Mini has a smaller housing, but lacks solar panels, and will retail for $129 when it launches this year. Smart bird feeders are also an increasingly crowded space. There are other options to consider, like the Coolfly Aura that we recently reviewed around the same price.

You can find plenty of budget options on Amazon, too, though you’ll have a harder time getting the same degree of polish delivered by Birdbuddy. Why this matters: The popularity of the BirdBuddy video bird feeder on Prime Day highlights the growing interest in smart outdoor devices, particularly those that combine technology with nature observation. For developers and businesses, this trend suggests opportunities for innovation in areas like wildlife monitoring and outdoor entertainment.

However, questions remain about the long-term viability of such products, particularly given the premium pricing and subscription models. As the market for smart bird feeders continues to evolve, consumers will need to weigh the benefits of features like bird recognition and naming against the costs, and consider whether similar experiences can be achieved through more affordable, DIY solutions. Ultimately, the success of products like BirdBuddy will depend on their ability to deliver a seamless and engaging user experience that justifies the investment.