Durability and camera quality are also strong points. Other specs include support for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, cloud storage, built-in two-way audio with a microphone and speaker, and a 130-degree wide-angle lens.

As soon as I installed it in the backyard, I connected the feeder to the companion Kiwibit app on my phone. This is where you can be notified when a bird stops by, watch recordings, and track all the visits.

A few weeks into testing is when the real fun started. My phone buzzed with a notification every time a new visitor showed up, and I found myself eagerly waiting for updates. Even on extremely rainy days, I managed to entice a few birds, including a stunning northern cardinal that I’ve now come to anticipate seeing every morning. As of this writing, the device has successfully recorded visits from six species.

I’ve been addicted ever since. I find myself eagerly checking the app every morning to see which feathered little guy stopped by. I show off the videos to almost everyone I know as if they’re my own pets. One amusing notification I keep receiving is “a nuisance animal detected” when squirrels raid my birdseed stash (which happens as often as you’d expect).