#Smart Bird Feeder

[zeroloop]

Mangiatoia con Telecamera: Una Soluzione Innovativa per gli Amanti della Natura

Netvue Birdfy Aggiornato-Mangiatoia per Uccelli con Videocamera&Solare,Telecamera per il Birdwatching con Bambù Ecologico e Rinnovabile,Cattura Automatica,Notifica Uccelli,Edizione Limitata Natalizia La nuova mangiatoia con telecamera integrata rappresenta una soluzione ideale per chi desidera osservare e fotografare gli uccellini (e non solo) che frequentano il proprio giardino. Questo…

[everythingaboutbirds]

A Dark-eyed Junco eating at a Netvue Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder.

[ostdrossel]

Nothing much going on, we need more snow! But there was a Cowbird here today, so random. The birds seem to like the Birdfy too, and it's been nice to have a feeder cam that I don't have to tend to except for filling the feeder. (There is blood on the feeder when the Cardi sits there. That was from a MoDo with an injured foot. There was a clip with that too, and I am happy it was there because otherwise I'd have wondered endlessly.)

[bmpmp3]

MAN i need to learn soldering properly i took computer tech for like 3 years in highschool but we learned to get rid of flux residue by going at the pcbs with a barbecue wire brush which makes every electronics nerd i know physically recoil to think about which is very funny but also. maybe i should. learn to use a solvent

[freelanceplatypus]

Summer Goal: befriend the crows that live in our apartment complex.

[lordsardine]

.

[octopiys]

Lost and Found

I. roll call and rainy nights

Next

Maybe Simon doesn't have any kids. Not yet at least. Maybe he doesn't know anyone we'll enough, or maybe he's not sure if he wants them in the first place.

But I'll tell you what.

Every time he goes on leave, without fail, he has an army of critters showing up to his house in the country. He never turns anything out to the streets, or to the cold night. The bottom of his pantry is stock full of dog and cat food. He's got three bird feeders in his back yard. There's four refillable water bowls by his garage.

The raccoons show up first without fail. They're named One and Deux, and they just recently had a baby named Tres. Hes pretty sure they live on his roof. He checked his cameras one night, after a long mission, and found them holding up Tres to the camera.

He didn't cry about that, what are you talking about?

Then the dogs show up. They're all mutts of varying sizes. One looks like some sort of lab, named Dog. Another is about the size of a pomeranian, but looks like a shaggy chihuahua. That's Barrow. He found her in his garden shed. She's got a mean bite, but a sweet face. The third is a big dog, almost the size of a Dane, but... not. He's not very smart. He's named barkmulch. Get it, cus- cus he barks- the fourth has gone unnamed. It's a furry little white thing, and it yaps at him a lot, nipping at his ankles anytime he enters the room. Behave, and it'll get a name.

There are a few cats that show up too. None of them have names except for one: Scraggle.

Scraggle is the ugliest fucking thing you can imagine. Scraggle is that shade of grey that white cats get when they're dirty, except you can't wash it off. The poor cat is missing patches of fur, and it seems permanent. It only has one eye. It's nose is flat, and gives it's face the illusion of a squished tomato. There's a scar going from it's whiskers, across it's nose and up to it's missing eye. Simon doesn't actually know what gender this cat is. It is only Scraggle.

Scraggle is also... very stupid, as far as cats go. It gets squished between the couch cushions, and yowls when Simon accidentally sits on him. How could he have seen him anyways? Scraggle screams when his food bowl is empty. Scraggle screams when everyone else's food bowls are empty. Scraggle screams when it manages to find it's way on top of the kitchen cabinets, and needs Simon's help to get down. Scraggle is a full time job when he's off duty.

Scraggle is his favorite.

He finds you in the rain.

Not nearly as run down as the rest of his animals, but just as lost.

Covered in scratches, blood, and muck, he finds you on the edge of his property, being screamed at by Scraggle, because it doesn't do much else.

Your clothes are torn, and you look a bit more haggard than you should. Wet, and cold, and hungry. Like you had missed a turn off the trails, or you were running away from them. From something.

You look up at him with wide eyes, but decide to trust him, to follow him like a lost creature, because he could not be worse than what you escaped from.

He makes soup. He gives you soup.

He's not the best conversationalist. He's not used to things he finds actually talking back to him in a language he can understand.

You tell him your name. He calls you Honey. You'll earn your name. Behave, you'll get it.

Scraggle is on thin ice with you. Attention stealer. Food giver. You get the cat down from places it shouldn't be. But Simon pays more attention to you than he does Scraggle. You fool. Scraggle is all. Scraggle is life.

You don't leave, much like the other things he feeds. You make yourself useful, because you're afraid of being turned out. If you're useful, then nothing will happen. And you go to bed every night warm with a full belly.

You're just another lost thing he's taken in. You don't leave when he disappears. You know he'll come back. He always does.

And he watches the cameras, while he's on a mission. He watches you diligently fill the bowls, the bird feeders, the waters, the bath. You trot out to the fish pond, and throw handfuls of feed out in the early hours of the night. Then you make your way back through the tall grass, and into the house.

Scraggle screams. You feed it too, and then pick it up. And carry it around like it's a little baby.

Hm. Maybe....

You were a sweet like honey, a pretty little thing. You weren't lost anymore. He'd found you, you're his now.

He'll take care of you.

Scraggle agrees. Scraggle likes you too.

masterlist

[tricktster]

Rating the recent visitors to my mom’s smart bird feeder:

Tufted Titmouse

10/10 no notes

[stromcuzewon]

usually they leave when the snow melts..... snows been gone for a week and yet i just saw one climbing head first down the tree.... hes been watching the squirrels too much

over a foot of snow on the ground, you know what that means: rats at the bird feeder!

[tiny-tf-faces]

Bird news

This FEATHERED FUCKER managed to dislodge the seed feeder (twice) and learnt to open the bar covers. I closed them with some yarn and a double (2) knot. HE LEARNT TO OPEN THOSE TOO. I closed them with an additional latch (like those iron clips that you find on bread) so I thought that I was safe.

Big.

Mistake.

He learnt to open the cage door.

So he could sleep with me.

There are no words that can describe how I feel right now

Beautiful, beautiful smart boy. With a well earned name. I'm having feels now too

[everythingaboutbirds]

A female Cardinal eating at a Netvue Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder.

[ostdrossel]

Ostdrossel, how do you get started with a bird camera? Is there an affordable camera you would recommend for a beginner?

It depends on what you want. There are always options that are better or worse or more pricey or cheaper. I use different systems for different things.

My homemade "feeder cam" with an action camera (the camera has the photoburst with motion detection function but any with photo timelapse works too). I have to harvest the photos from the SD card every day and take the cam in over night. The motion trigger is hyper active, so there will be tons of unusable photos and it takes a while to go through all.

IP cameras - I am still using my old Birdsy cameras in some spots, recording and livestreaming with the help of youtube and OBS.

Wyze cameras - I use them mainly for nestboxes but they are also a cheap option for feeder or baths, maybe. They come with an app. I pay 45 bucks a year for three cam pro licenses so I don't have videos restricted to 12 seconds. The v3 and v4 are pretty good quality, and I have also used them to "stake out" locations for other cams.

An actual "feeder cam" - I use a Birdfy 2, which is quite fantastic but expensive. (I posted a more thorough review on my website and here too last year.) I think similar quality you may get from Bird Buddy and the one that WBU sells (Feather Snap?) but I cannot vouch for any of these.

Trailcams. I have started using trailcams last year and have been enjoying playing around with them a lot. The positive side is that you may get better image and sound quality than with the smart feeder cams and don't need internet or data or even wiring for them to work but you will have to harvest your footage from the SD card. Cellular ones seem to work from afar but I have not tried any because I am too cheap to pay for extra data. I have been usng three models from the Chinese company Ceyomur (the CY65, 745 and 95), and they are all three a lot of fun to work with. The best of the lot is the 75, IMO, it has the fastest reaction time, a solar panel and takes good photos and videos. All three come with a practical app (great for positioning!) and can take photos and videos at the same time (great for the harvesting stage so you don't have to watch every single video, the photos act as preview). they are all well-priced on Amazon. I also use the more expensive Browning Spec Ops elite, which has stellar video quality but does not come with an app, is not great with photos and cannot take video and photo simultaneously. I usually try to say which one I used on my posts.

Last but not least you can use a regular photo camera.

[brucewaynehater101]

They are so big and so cute! And if Huggin and Munnin are well above the average size of ravens they could be nearly the size of Tim's torso. Certainly bigger than his head. Plus they are so, so smart. Some of the smartest birds in the world. Imagine Tim getting in kidnapped as a civilian and Huggin simply grabs the key for him while Munnin acts as a look out. Tim escapes without ever being seen.

Tim also has special "bird doors" in his Nest so the whole place is filled with his many birds. Sure not all of them live there because he set up dozens of safe places around the city that are basically just Reall Big Pigeon Roosts with bird feeders in them that all types of birds are allowed in. Also the bird doors are much to small for any human to fit through, much like dog and cat doors are, and they do have actual sliding metal doors on them that are opened and unlocked by proximity of the little cameras he put on some of his birds. Roughly 4 owls, 8 pigeons, 3 Bluejays, 2 hawks, 17 crows, 9 grackles, and 20 ravens have access to his Nest. Are those a lot of keys just flying around the city? Yes. But no one knows the birds are his, Tim is constantly trying to make smaller and smaller cameras for them so that they will never be spotted, and who the fuck is gunna point to a random bird and go "that bitch has the key to Red Robin's house." And be believed by anyone who would help them catch a fucking pigeon that's just minding their own buisness?business??

The only beings who notice the cameras are other birds and the strange sparkly spot on his birds chest? It only gives his birds more Rizz. There was a study about how Zebra Finches actually preferred to mate with those who had on red tracking tags over other colors so what if this is similar? This would also mean that every spring Tim has an exponentially larger amount of birds.

Also the funniest way for the family to find out. It's one of the very rare sunny days in summer where it's Actually Hot in Gothem so the family decides it's the perfect day to use the pool in the back yard of Wayne Manor. Everyone is having an amazing time and eventually Tim gets tired so he sits down on one of the reclining pool chairs for a rest and snack, which is his chocolate free trail mix. He has a large bowl of it and ends up falling asleep with it in his lap. Just as the siblings are giggling and deciding what prank to play, a crow lands next to Tim and sqwacks a few times. Tim mumbles in his sleep but doesn't move so the bird hops up onto Tim's chair and starts to eat out of his bowl. Since it doesn't get shooed away, soon others are joining it. The family watches in amazement as Tim gets *covered* in birds that are casually eating from his bowl. There's even a pair of hawks that are perched above his head. When the bowl is empty, one of the crows bites Tim on the nose, startling him awake and he glares at the feathery fiend and very gently taps it on the beak as he scolds, "Monroe, I told you to stop biting my nose. Wait- you guys ate all my trail mix!" He has forgotten that his siblings are there because it's usually the birds or siblings, never both.

Oh, and when they eventually ask why he hid the birds, Tim simply says, "last time anyone found out, Janet called an exterminator."

I love this so much. Him building little nests all over the city for them is adorable and great. It would be cool if he started that before his Robin years as he was out and about in Gotham. He just built small little safe places for the birds, and it rapidly expanded as Tim got more experience, more resources, and more birds to look after.

Your logic with the keys is fantastic! When the batfam finds out, I bet birds pop by Tim's place while whatever family member is just chilling. Like maybe they are watching a movie and said bat gets distracted by the coming and goings of various birds (the birds probably also mess a bit with Tim or his space as fond pestering before leaving again). Maybe a few are just staring at the family member without blinking or taking a nap.

I wonder if Damian would start to make excuses to go over to Tim's Nest as much as possible. He states he needs to "ensure Timothy is maintaining adequate nesting conditions for the various species of birds" or that he will "test the Nest's security" by dropping by unannounced and breaking in.

Perhaps some of the birds watch over his various family members for Tim? Especially Duke because nobody else works the day shift with him, and birds are more common during the day (and thus less suspicious).

[crying-fantasies]

Zookeeper

Masterlist

Activating in the early morning was easy, Earth and its beautiful sunrises were more than enough to activate movement protocols to catch on to the first rays of sunshine, the apricot smell in the air, the tinted particulates of water still not settling in the dirt, birds flocking above to catch their first meal, dogs yawning in the households’ gardens or the cats stretching in the windows, this was life, it was, his armor trembled slightly by the chilly air entering all systems, followed by the unmistakable scent of your body, taking your image in his processor to his spark, snuggling his face plate over your messed up hair, making it worse by the electric pull of his field and spark; your sleep at these hours has always been the deepest, and Hound takes no offense in it, relishing in the way your arms try to loop around his neck cables, fighting to not let go, “I need to go to the crops, just let me-”, he gives into temptation, snuggling you a bit more as his engines are showered in your warmth, “okay, five more minutes”.

30 minutes go by, and he fights his way out of bed with at least five kisses on his jawline and pressure under his modesty panel as incentives to stay and a still drowsy you in the covers, he feels slightly guilty for leaving you to fight off the cold by yourself but things need to be done already, who knows if the crows are already waiting for their first fuel schedule of the day? Better to go if he doesn't want the rage of the whole gang against him or you.

Easy to say, not to realize, “Ouch”, he has to mimic your onomatopoeia of getting hurt if he wants his work partners to believe they're exacting justice over his tardiness as he fills their feeder to the max, as fast as he can so they can stop the beak attack and avoid getting injured while at it, pretty sure the vet next town will have some questions if it happens again, “ouch, I’m sorry”, his digits open the external terrarium, the aurora snakes as sleepy as you, only one raising its little head when he is noticed, taking the slithering animals and putting them in his neck cables to help it raise the temperature until the sun reaches a good heat.

Once the troublemakers are well-fed for the morning he looks at the plants, thankful as all is intact, crops growing healthy at a healthy range with no snails or insects, took long enough, but no one can deny how nice it is to partner up with the fauna, still, he does believe the lasting fear of humanity in the long run of evolution has a great part in why Mrs. Parish keeps screaming when she catches a glance of the domestic aurora snakes he adopted to control the rodent's increased population, he does feel bad for the rats and mice but it is the way of life, Hound just hopes someday the little mammals would stop assaulting his crops and finally settle in the terrarium he has already done from a few weeks ago, maybe then he could try to manage a positive agreement with them in the same way he did with the crows and the snakes, even when he still isn't sure if the snakes got their benefits in real consideration in the same way the birds did, but yeah, Hound does the best he can to provide a fair place for them.

Hound takes a glimpse at the rising sun, his vents expulsion heated air as his panels retract a little, the early morning sun is finally above, and one aurora moves more energetically so he lets it go to do the job, the snake is smart and experienced enough to move away from the alien plant that is in the center of the crops; Hound mimics the sound of the crows to say “no harm” as he points at the snake and the plant “no touch”, some look at him once their fill is completed, soon going back with their flock to impart the message, with that done he begins to tend to the most delicate plants he can handle without damaging, watching absentmindedly at the pitch of land he hasn't touched yet, maybe he could use it for more crops, or maybe a rice paddy, he can go to the local library and download some knowledge, ask Mister Alunga as he has some on his place, Hound knows that books are good and that he can download, but it is also very important to learn from the people, and mister Alunga may be a tad bit grumpy but he has more experience than most as he is an elder, oh, the crows are over him now, especially the older one, leaving a shiny pebble over his helm, if she does that, then he is forgiven, his digit does its best to give little scratches over her head, “thanks”.

Meanwhile, with coffee in hand and bleary-eyed, you can only sip on the mug while watching Hound play Disney Princess blended with Steve Irvin, and yeah, that's the alien you want to marry.

[cosmerelists]

The Orders of the Knights Radiant as Birds

Namely, birds that I happen to (think I) know something about. This post motivated by watching pelicans for an entire day while I was sick. 

The Windrunners are like pelicans--they fly in neat rows with their chests out and their heads facing straight ahead, and when they hunt, they skim close and fast over the surface of the water and then dive straight down below the surface without hesitation

But the Edgedancers--as represented by Lift--are also like pelicans; if they can eat it, they'll try to eat it. (Remember the one that tried to eat a capybara? Just to see if it could?) 

But the Edgancers are also vultures--they tend to the dying, they destroy diseases and pestilence, they're holy

The Dustbringers are also like vultures; they take things apart and thrive on seeing what's inside

And the Dustbringers are also woodpeckers--pounding away at the tree and reducing it gradually to dust

The Stonewards are flamingos--extremophiles who can endure any conditions, for they follow Taln

But the Lightweavers are also flamingos because of their color, their vibrancy, and the growing realization of how much they can endure

The Lightweavers are also cowbirds--shapeshifters who pretend to be what they're not to survive, not always on purpose, not meaning to hurt

And the Truthwatchers are roosters, yelling about the light

But Truthwatchers are also ravens, known for watching and learning secrets and being wise

Willshapers are weaver birds, who build elaborate and beautiful nests

But Willshapers are also chickadees--first to explore a new feeder, grabbing one seed and flying quickly away, never tied down

Bondsmiths are puffins; they mate for life, cherishing their bonds with each other; social and curious, wanting to learn and be like others

Elsecallers are crows--very smart, very clever, and definitely willing to mess with you if you upset them

But Elsecallers are also cormorants, taking to the air and swimming beneath the water. They can go between realms easily and smoothly to get what they want

And Skybreakers are hawks--quick, predatory, a quick flash in the sky bringing death to their prey

[kedreeva]

*rubs my face with both hands* Some Guy(tm) on FB inserted himself into a conversation I was having with two other people about a chicken being conditioned to peck a pink piece of paper, to post a link to Some Blog Post about why chickens peck at red. A post which was full of misinformation (or at best, info with zero citations for scientific proof) about how you shouldn't wear red when attending chickens because it makes them Mad and how if a chicken sees red its instinct is to peck it to death because they kill each other in the wild if someone gets wounded to protect the flock (...) and how waterers and feeders have to be red to draw the birds to them and so on and so forth in a truly stunning display of ignorance.

So since this person CLEARLY wanted to engage, I engaged. I asked why chickens with red combs don't get immediately pecked to death, why don't we have to blukote their combs to save their lives if they'll peck anything red to death? What about red chickens? Roosters with red feathers? Why do chickens drink out of black pig bowls or waterers with purple, pink, green, yellow, white bases (all of which i have and were used fine)? Why do they peck at the FOOD in the red bottomed feeder, instead of the red plastic?? Brown eggs are colored with a red pigment, how do any of them ever survive this violent desire this person thinks they have for red??

They're pecking at red because red = fruits/berries/meat in the wild. They peck each other to death in captivity when they don't have enough space to get away and they're BORED. They feather pick and go for blood when they're missing vitamins or protein. They peck at blood more because they are omnivores, they literally eat bloody stuff and they're too stupid to realize THIS bloody stuff is their friend. Their brain is the size of a walnut, they're just not differentiating between "this blood came from WITHIN my friend" and "This blood is ON my friend from somewhere else." Like yeah they might peck at something red to see if it's food (and continue pecking when it tastes like food), but they're not hulking out at the sight of red things. Geezus.

Anyway now he's pissy because I didn't roll over and tell him how smart and right he is. Because he thinks his chickens are literally pecking at his red shoes because they think he's a weakened flock member they must kill for the good of the flock.