I decided to get my 75 year old mother a birdfeeder camera for Christmas. Her sister had just passed and she lives alone and I wanted something to ease the transition of loss. After extensive research on the many different styles available, I decided on the BeakView. It didn’t have a huge internet presence, but it was recommended to me by an owner of Wild Birds Unlimited. He was impressed with the product and the owner and said the customer service was great. He was not wrong!!!
I set the BeakView up for my mother a few days after Christmas and was impressed with the quality and sturdiness of the birdfeeder. The housing for the camera was incredible and I didn’t have worries about it breaking or moisture or an animal getting in. The birdfeeder itself went together very easily and there were plenty of options for attaching it to whatever you want to attach it to. We decided to use the strap to attach it to a tree until my mom decided on a pole she wanted (BeakView didn’t sell them at that time.) I was very impressed with the quality of the strap and how easy it was to tighten. This is not some cheap manufactured strap. It was serious business and the teeth were strong and held the birdhouse very tight. (I was expecting a cheap type of teeth like comes with an inexpensive belt-not the case at all!).
My mom and I attached it to a tree and got the solar panel attached and hung south(as recommended by Dave in customer service). The camera has held an amazing charge for over a month during some of the coldest and dreariest days. I was able to get the camera set up pretty well, but ran into a little trouble because I tried to put my mom’s and my account on the same email. I called customer service for help and got Dave. He stepped away from a Boise football game to help me because I really wanted to get it set up before I had to head back home 3 hours away. He helped me understand I needed two accounts, and walked us through my mom sharing her camera feed with me. That was really the only snag I ran into. (She goes to setting wheel to “share camera”. I go to “user” to scan the code.) Dave was great and walked us through all of that and got the setting set to where he thought she would like them(he was right lol.). Mind you this was all on New Year’s Eve with college football on.
(Remember, mom will need wi-fi and you will need her password to get it set up. If you have those things you will be golden.)
I had also purchased one for my sister and she was able to get hers set up easily and we have enjoyed looking at each others birds so much. I love that the camera angle is so wide. I can see my mother’s entire backyard and that gives me a real sense of comfort being so far away from her. The alarm is pretty loud 🤣😳 but doesn’t do much to scare the squirrels away. Lol. The light is also really bright, but it’s just a flash and doesn’t stay on permanently. I can can flash the light, sound the alarm, and yell at squirrels through the speaker on my own phone. I will get a notification that there is movement and see my mom putting in feed and we can just talk lol. So fun.
The AI feature is not free. The basic was about $3.00 per month so we didn’t get it. Dave suggested the identification app Merlin, which is a free bird identifier made by Cornell. It’s a little tricky to navigate past all the things wanting you to subscribe but it is possible if you are clever enough. During the winter we’ve had about 6 different types of birds show up (and 1 fat squirrel). It took them a little while to find it, but eventually we got all kids of activity.
My mom and sister love their bird feeders and I have a request from several family members to purchase more.
I looked at several bird feeders on Amazon and, through research learned that the cheaper versions are knock-offs made by overseas manufacturers. They just take the product and create a generic version of them. The ratings were so bad and there were so many complaints about them falling apart, the technology, being horrible, and so many other issues I decided I didn’t want that garbage for my mother. I wanted something reliable that wouldn’t break, go offline, or just be a general pain. It needed to be quality that would last and give my mother reliable enjoyment. I knew if they technology failed it would just become an overpriced bird feeders because my mom would never be able to get it fixed. I’m so happy I chose BeakView! It’s been almost a month through some of the worst weather Tennessee has seen and the BeakView has never had an issue. My mom has enjoyed it thoroughly and it was one of the best purchases I have made in a long time. If durability and customer service are what you are looking for, BeakView is for you!!!