Choose And Install The Perfect Camera For Your Birdhouse With These Tips

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You've built an adorable DIY bird house and hung it in your yard, and now you are waiting with bated breath to see who is going to use it. Will that bluebird couple from the feeder take up residence? Are those little chickadees you see coming and going just checking it out, or do they have eggs? What's actually going on inside? Including a camera in your birdhouse design is a fun way to watch all the fascinating progress of a new generation of birds being made right in your backyard. The perfect camera will be small enough to install in your birdhouse space, feed you high quality images, and fit your budget. 

The best cameras will provide you with high resolution wireless video viewable on your phone or computer via an app so you can check on the action any time of day. For that video stream, you'll need to consider how far the birdhouse is from your home to ensure a good signal to your router, and you'll want it close enough to an outdoor plug for power if needed. For battery-powered cameras, look for a long battery life. In their tips for using a nest camera, Cornell Lab's Nest Watch emphasizes that you don't want to disturb active nests by replacing batteries. Installing a camera is best done as a winter project when you take your empty birdhouse down for cleaning, or when you are building a new nest box. Remember that most bird nests in the United States are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and it is illegal to touch or disturb an active, non-invasive bird nest.

If you are building a DIY birdhouse, integrating a camera into your design from the beginning is the way to go. You can ensure your box includes features like brackets to hold the camera and space to run any power cables. In this how-to YouTube video, Beak Peeker shows how to build a wifi-enabled and solar-powered wooden birdhouse with a camera. If your woodworking skills aren't up to par, you can instead choose a DIY kit like Isenland's solar-powered smart birdhouse kit, camera included, available on Amazon. 

If you already have a birdhouse, a little retrofit to add a camera inside isn't too hard. Look for a small camera with a mount that can be easily screwed into the roof of the nest box, aimed toward the bottom. You'll have to take the roof off for easy access, and save yourself some work by waiting to reattach everything until you've tested out the camera position and picture feed. You can even drill a small opening to the side of your box to feed power cables through if the camera isn't battery operated or needs to be wired to a router with an ethernet cable.

As with the best cameras for wildlife photography, picture quality is a key consideration for your nest box video feed. The Blink outdoor camera is an economical choice, available on Amazon for around $50, with reviewers noting its sharp pictures as well as ease of installation. This camera can work well in bird houses and there is even a YouTube tutorial by Nest Hollow showing how to install it into a nest box. 

For a more expensive option, check out Green Feathers, which sells a variety of birdhouse cameras and integrated birdhouse and camera kits from $200 to $500 dollars and are considered some of the best on the market. These cameras come in solar-powered or plug-in varieties to fit whatever setup works best for you. Customer reviews praise the brand's image quality and great customer service for troubleshooting. 

Whatever camera you decide upon, read the specs carefully, as there are several specific variations in both cameras and nest boxes in terms of size, function, and power sources. Make certain your camera is waterproof and can focus tightly over short distances. An infrared option allows for 24-7 viewing without disturbing the little peepers. App-based controls are helpful as well.