Birdie Cam

Security web-cam in a bird house

We got a green-backyard.com WIFI web cam a few months back, built a house to suit our local black-capped chickadees, wired it up, and after a bit of time and some bird activity, we now spied an egg!

The house is based on a few plans on the internet and had to have a tall, accessible, attic and a window to let in a bit of light. It seems the birds don’t mind if there is an frosted window.

I chose some scrap wood that was lying around to make a cheap first try. I was also thinking the older wood may make the birds feel more “at home”. You can see how the plans have the roof hinge up to access the camera for installation and maintenance. The front opens up to allow for easy cleaning.

The house was bolted to a 4″x4″ pole, that can easily be removed, about 7′ up. I also wrapped a piece of sheet metal to serve as a squirrel baffle.

This camera had to be within range of our household WIFI as well as an extension cord from an outside outlet. You can see the wire running out of the bottom of the squirrel baffle.

The whole thing gives off a bit of a steam-punk vibe, mostly because I used a scrap piece of copper to protect the entry from predators enlarging the hole.

The included software is basically an ad supported security camera app/program, and while it could be configured to stream, we have just been piping it over to the TV and seem to have it on in the background a few hours during the day.

It’s been pretty interesting to watch the birds go about their day – watching them place moss and wonder about the other materials in the nest. We worry when they go away and leave the egg alone. It is comforting in the early morning to see what we think is the male coming in and standing guard at the front entry hole. (Usually there is only one bird in the house at a time.)

6/2/2022 Update.

We now have seven eggs. One bird is usually nesting, but will leave for short periods.

6/3/2022 Update.

This morning we had our first chick. As of this writing, five of the seven eggs have hatched. Adult birds (mom?) is busy going in and out with small insects and spends some time sitting in the nest. They also eat the shells. (I’ve heard to make up for the loss of calcium.)

The nest had seven eggs total. One never hatched, but the others did. Unfortunately, two of the fledglings did not survive. The birds started growing fast, getting feathers and eating constantly. Recently, we had a bit of a heat wave and the sun hits the house directly. The birds were huddled up next to the corners to catch any sort of draft from the cracks in the walls. We ended up hosing the house down with water then fashioning some shade.

6/21/2022 Update:

All too soon the first fledgling left the house. We had noticed they were no longer staying in the nest, but liked to perch by the ‘window’. One morning they hung out by the door for awhile, and then the were gone –

6/22/2022 Update:

The last of the three fledglings left today. We read that they do not go back to the nest, but hang around on local branches still being fed by their parents. So curiosity got the best of us, and we decided to take a look.

The single egg that didn’t hatch was still there. We have no idea what happened to the hatchlings that didn’t make it.