Make a Cheepy Cheap BirdBox with WiFi Camera (Great for Schools/STEM Projects)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.พ. 2020
- So I made a WiFi BirdBox which is about 2-3x cheaper than most on the market.
Make one here: www.instructables.com/id/Make...
This hack also has the benefit of using a WiFi Endoscope Camera - which as well as being affordable, is also useful for inspecting all manner of things, but also allows you to use 1 camera over multiple bird boxes to save even more money!
As an engineer, I'm still in 'experiment mode' with this project, so I've done 4 variations of the format to see which is most successful. Might be all, some or none! Wish me luck.
Hope this is a useful project for Schools and STEM projects, and is a nice mix of tech and problem solving, as well as grappling with the variation of nature itself, in all its beauty.
For more like this, check out www.judepullen.com and do get in touch if you'd like me to consult on any STEM work with schools, art projects, etc. Thanks for watching. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
![I make a Plywood Birdbox with WiFi Camera [video #399]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5SrqskEo7nY/mqdefault.jpg)
This is wonderful, by the way! I'd never even heard of WiFi bird boxes until I saw your DIY featured in the Instructables newsletter.
Instructables rules, huh! Love it. Do post if you make it with the Library =)
Will do! I may just propose the idea to some local Girl Scout troops instead though (maybe they can partner with the library), and make my own for my parents' yard (we're renting and may move). Regardless, I will definitely be spreading the word! :)
@@customswithker1649 Thanks - that's great to hear. And do DM me if anything is confusing. judepullen.com > contact
Thanks for the ideas. Will try this out as a gift for my daughter.
I'm making a box similar to this for a school project and this video has been extremely useful. :)
Great it was useful!!
Great video - thanks for sharing. I want to do something similar to watch the birds in our box and the adaptation of an endoscopy camera is genius. One word of advice more on the box than the tech would be to put a protective metal ring around the hole that the birds enter through. We had chicks in our nest-box this spring and I went out one morning to find the hole had been pecked/bitten through by something (woodpecker/squirrel) and the chicks were gone 😞. Any follow-up footage of the box in use would be great to see - all the best.
Thanks for the comment. Yes I’ve heard some good tips about sizing and reinforcing the hole for the reasons you said. I’ll do a little update on Instructables soon!
Many birds that use bird boxes, like bluebirds would not appreciate the perch on the front of the box. They land with their body against the front under the entrance.
Yes, a perch allows predators so shouldn’t have one
Like you I think that camera bird boxes are stupidly expensive, I like the endoscope idea but what i really want is a poe ip camera. Nobody gives minimum focal distance in the specs, the hunt continues. thanks for giving me another avenue to explore
Neat idea, the endoscope I have is poor video quality I got for mechanics work. Perhaps I need to get another one to try.
I think these devices get cheaper and better every year! Good luck with next time.
Great video, thanks for sharing. I'm adding a solar powered USB charger to extend wifi
transmission time of the borescope. Here's hoping the current draw of the camera
is less than the charging rate of the pv panel rated @ 150 mA/hr!
Sounds great. Will you post the outcome?
Is there a sound when you recording video?
Depends on the endoscope. Mine does not. But if it were me trying - perhaps a small dictaphone would do a good job??
Pretty cool. Thanks n cheers from Carapicuíba, Brasil.
Thanks! Would love to see what might nest in Brasil!
@@JudePullen Last year i had a woodpecker working on a dead tree ten feet away from my house for a whole month. After it left a couple of amazona aestiva inspected the hollow for about a week and left, after that the same thing happened with a toucan pair. And so I chopped the dead tree down before it fell on my roof.. Now am building some nestboxes, but the first tenant i got is a squirrel. (Not sure if you wanted to know all that much)
@@araticum2 funny you mention this, I’m working with squirrels on a new project right now!! Thanks for sharing. Good luck with getting some footage.
Would it be possible to leave the WiFi camera up permanently, or at least for all of spring/summer? A live feed of one of these boxes would be really cool to do, and I'm thinking I might propose the idea to my local library...
Hi Kerry, Please take a look at the Instructables link above, and scroll down to Step 12: Appendix 1. I show you how to use a waterproof enclosure to do this. But I also suggest that you put the device on a timer switch, so it's not on say 1 hour before dusk, so the birds sleep properly.
Thank you! I'll admit I saw that shortly after leaving the comment, haha, but I appreciate you getting back with me anyway! Does the camera/endoscope have a light on it? I was thinking of making one of those opaque windows that you suggested if not.
@@customswithker1649 The cam has a light which is adjustable from off to quite bright. But it the camera is so sensitive even in low light, it hardly needs a boost. And yes, I like the opaque window myself and hope that is sufficient.
Hi there great video, if a wren nest in this box dont expect to see much because not only do they make the usual shape nest, but they make a round ball, and this is what hapend to mine last year, i heard plenty of movement but saw no eggs, no babies. so i turned camera off. hope this helps you start of seeing them busy building a nest and then the camera lens is completely blocked out.
Best regards George Whitby in UK
Hi George,
Thanks for the nice comment! I noticed some 'house hunting' action in late autumn, so am hopeful for the spring!
Hope this year goes well for you too!
Jude
Hi Jude are you in the UK//?
@@georgesmith6667 Yep - www.judepullen.com/
We are having extreme heat this week and I have learned a lot! You need more ventilation in these boxes very badly. There should be long slits on top side walls under roof overhang or holes, there should also be holes in the bottom four corners of floor to provide drainage and more ventilation. No perches should be on box either. Thanks for your video
Hi Brenda - your timing is impeccable, I'm literally writing up a V2.0 - thankyou! I will try and incorporate your suggestions. Although I have made it larger, which I think will be beneficial also. (Spoiler - just had mine fledged).
@@JudePullen 👍🏼 my 10 day old bb nestlings are struggling with our high heat temps now, I added more ventilation holes, heat shields on roof and side plus just put an umbrella over box to help shade it better. My biggest fear is removing my wren guard right now for fear the wren comes back and kills the nestlings. I unfortunately saw it happen to someone else’s bb nestlings. I’m going to wait a few more days so it’s closer to fledge time. I do love your designs!
@@brendalins1237 bb is black bird?
I never knew wrens were so predatory as they are tiny.
@@JudePullen oh no I’m talking about bluebirds I just said bb for short. Oh my yes, house wrens although small are very predatory. They have pecked and destroyed my bb eggs twice.
@@brendalins1237 Ah right - yes - sadly eating eggs (not chicks) makes sense. I did hear woodpeckers do eat chicks tho. It's a wild world out there! Hope you're are doing ok in the new shade.
What make of endoscope did you use please?
amzn.to/2VgWupq
Aren’t you afraid that the battery of the wifi camera will get too hot or damaged because it is continuously being charged?
You can always use it periodically. In fact I suggest this in the write up. See link.
I tried that plastic, but it only lasted 6 months, but the UV degraded it, and they fell off!!
Sorry to hear that. Perhaps try fixing it mechanically rather than with glue?
Young Kids maybe watching .....” damn useful” ...some parents may not want their kids to hear it
They shouldn’t be, as I selected the Not For Kids option on TH-cam. But sure, will take your comment onboard 🙂