PITTSBURGH — Whether a flock of the much-coveted evening grosbeaks or eastern bluebirds shows up at a feeder, it’s all about getting them there.
And with tech-like smart feeders with artificial intelligence and embedded cameras, alongside planting native greenery for birds and buying specialized seed mixes, one can turn a backyard into an avian hot spot.
Sales of bird feeders and increasingly tech-savvy accessories have soared beyond a COVID-19 pandemic bump.
The market for wild bird products continues to fly high — valued at about $5 billion worldwide in 2021 — with growth predicted to reach $6.4 billion by 2028, according to Introspective Market Research.
“We need the birds more than they need us,” said Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, which sells bird feeders and locally formulated Beechwood Blend bird seed at three locations.
Only 10 percent to 20 percent of birds’ diets come from bird feeders, Bonner said. They mostly forage to find native food.
Models aimed at keeping that percentage up sport added devices for squirrel busting — a well-used verb in the birding lexicon.
Squirrel Buster feeders are calibrated to shut off food for weighty, unwanted visitors such as the North American gray squirrel.
If the exclusion of species is your thing, there are more feeder options.
“Probably one in three feeders we sell have some kind of deterrent associated with it,” he added.
Smart feeders
And now not only can you ensure your food’s protection, you can also feed, photograph, identify, receive alerts and share images and videos using smart bird feeders such as Bird Buddy and BirdKiss.
Bill Powers of Murrysville straddles the traditional and high-tech when it comes to bird-feeding equipment.
His four bird-feeder webcams feature daily visits by pileated woodpeckers and a smorgasbord of food for a variety of bird species.
He owns PixCams, which operates 40 livestreaming nature webcams. Given his technical expertise in customizing nature webcams, developers of new AI smart bird feeders send models to him to test.
“When they first came out, I thought it was going to be a novelty,” Powers said. “Now there are more brands and I know people who have bought them.”
These new feeders are autonomous, using a camera, batteries and a solar panel and needing only a Wi-Fi signal, he said.
“The main advantages are ease of use and being able to share your bird photos,” Powers said. “We live in a mobile age where we expect to share information quickly with our phone.”
Old school feeder success
Retired North Allegheny School District teachers Pat and Sherron Lynch, both 77, are old hands at attracting an avian variety to their Pine Township yard. They keep his-and-hers binoculars at the ready on their kitchen table.
Feeding the birds for about 25 years, the couple have spotted 162 species on their property and neighboring lands.
Their secret: “Putting out food that the birds will like of course and keeping things as clean as you can,” said Pat.
They hedge their bets with different seed mixes and multiple feeders.
