This spring, Chinese actor Li Xian sparked a niche trend.
After sharing a video about birdwatching, he received praise from China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment. In the days that followed, hashtags related to birdwatching and bird photography dominated social media.
While birdwatching is still emerging in China’s mainstream, it has long been big business in the US.
According to the “State of the Birds” report, by 2025, there will be nearly 100 million birdwatching enthusiasts in the US, more than one-third of the country’s adult population. Together, they are projected to spend USD 108 billion annually on travel, gear, apparel, and photography equipment.
The US is one of the most lucrative markets globally for bird-related products. Locals have long shown a strong interest in wild birds, making birdwatching the nation’s second most popular outdoor activity. In this market, feeding and observing birds are the primary behaviors driving consumer spending.
Spotting an opening in the market, several brands have moved into the space. Two smart bird feeder companies, in particular, have drawn significant attention:
- Bird Buddy, based in the US, turned its flagship feeder into a breakout hit on Amazon, with a single SKU generating more than USD 5 million in monthly sales.
- Birdfy, launched in 2020 by Chinese cross-border e-commerce firm Netvue, reached similar bestseller status despite a comparable price point. At one stage, it was earning over USD 1 million per month.
While traditional bird feeders are cheap and widely available, Bird Buddy and Birdfy are capitalizing on a new niche, leveraging product design and tech to reframe the experience. Strong sales may signal early success, but their real test lies ahead: adapting to local markets and continuously refining the user experience.
Birth of a new product category
Bird Buddy’s homepage is hard to miss. It showcases high-definition images of colorful birds in motion, rendered with such clarity that viewers feel as if they’re watching them in person.
The first-generation Bird Buddy smart feeder launched on Kickstarter in 2020 and was marketed as the first of its kind. It raised EUR 4.19 million (USD 4.9 million) from more than 20,000 backers. Its current Pro series is priced between USD 199–329 after discounts.
Co-founder Ziga Vrtacic credits the idea for Bird Buddy to a YouTube video in which a seagull steals a GoPro. In that video, several birds are seen up close inspecting the camera. The footage revealed a surprising intimacy, sparking the realization that birdwatching could be experienced from a new vantage point.
GoPro likely didn’t anticipate this direction. Its cameras had already inspired the creation of panoramic action cams like Insta360. Now, they are also shaping the smart bird feeder market. Though GoPro’s financial performance has declined, its role as a product pioneer endures.
Bird Buddy’s feeder integrates artificial intelligence to identify over 1,000 bird species. It houses a five-megapixel camera with infrared night vision that captures sharp images and video, even in low light. When a bird arrives, the device automatically records footage, sends it to a mobile app via Wi-Fi, and cross-references it with a cloud database to display bird information and behavior in real time.
The Pro model upgrades the camera to HDR (high dynamic range) with a smaller sensor, wider focus range, and broader field of view. It supports 2K HDR slow-motion video, includes a high-fidelity microphone, and uses a modular design that allows for future hardware enhancements. A solar panel add-on offers a renewable power source.
User experience is clearly prioritized, with setup kept simple: mount the feeder, link the app, and wait.
According to Wired, the app sends users a daily summary with visit counts and species tallies. The main interface displays a gallery of “postcards,” essentially a mix of photos and short video clips lasting from a few seconds to two minutes, depending on bird activity. Users can save favorites, browse curated clips from others, and receive reminders to clean the feeder.
In response to user complaints about raccoons and cats raiding feeders, Bird Buddy added a detection feature that alerts users when unidentified animals appear.
Still, challenges persist. Bird identification is sometimes inaccurate or incomplete. But the more pressing issue is production. Many users have reported lengthy shipping delays and slow customer support.
Made in China, tailored for the world
Birdfy’s rise in the smart bird feeder space stems from sharp business acumen and solid technical capabilities at its parent company, Netvue.
A veteran in smart home hardware, Netvue has long worked on video doorbells, security cameras, and surveillance systems. It’s also no stranger to overseas expansion.
“Netvue’s security camera business had slowed down significantly, but the smart bird feeder brought the company back to life,” an industry insider told 36Kr. “In the past few years, it’s returned to profitability, earning hundreds of millions in RMB.”
According to BrandArk, Netvue noticed that many users of its outdoor cameras were posting clips of birds on social media and within its app community. This recurring behavior led to a realization: birdwatching, especially in overseas markets, was an underserved niche.
Because wild birds are highly sensitive to human presence, birders typically rely on telephoto lenses or binoculars, tools that are costly and often fall short of immersive observation. This gap prompted the idea to pair a smart camera with a feeder.
Birdfy launched in 2021 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, officially entering the smart birdwatching segment.
Its feeders are priced between USD 120–280 after discounts. Each device features a wide-angle, high-definition camera and Netvue’s proprietary AI, which reportedly identifies more than 1,000 bird species and automatically tags and categorizes them.
Functionally, Birdfy’s feeders offer adjustable feed volume to reduce waste, infrared night vision for low-light recording, and simplified assembly for easier upkeep.
In its review, Wired highlighted the camera’s broad field of view, noting that Birdfy feeders captured surrounding activity effectively. But image quality drew criticism: low-light footage suffered from graininess and compression artifacts. While passable on small screens, the output didn’t hold up on larger displays, making Birdfy’s offerings better suited for casual birders. The camera can also double as a motion-activated security device.
Like Bird Buddy, Birdfy devices occasionally misidentify species, though that’s a common limitation across the category.
Where Birdfy excels is supply chain agility. Backed by China’s responsive manufacturing ecosystem, it brings products to market quickly and has avoided the shipping delays that have dogged Bird Buddy.
Still, image quality remains a weakness that needs addressing.
According to 36Kr, Bird Buddy and Birdfy have already inspired several Chinese security hardware firms to enter the category. But many rely on generic components and overlook localization, leading to weak sales.
For most birders, the appeal of a smart feeder is the ability to observe birds up close, without disturbance. Increasingly, software subscriptions are becoming the primary revenue stream for companies in this space, eclipsing one-time hardware sales. Succeeding here requires not just strong technical infrastructure, but also thoughtful localization and user-centric design.
The market is now shifting as traditional feeders give way to data-driven devices that offer a deeper, more interactive birdwatching experience. The opportunity is clear, but so is the need for executional focus in a segment where the entry bar remains low.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.