After setting up your Bird Buddy, it might take some time before you get a notification or postcard. Don't worry; this is normal. Birds take time to warm up to new feeders, regardless of the appealing food. Their cautious nature might keep them at bay for days or even weeks, but they'll come around.

While the camera will make postcards by itself, you can also make your own with the Live feature.

Home Feed

When the camera module snaps a bird visit, you’ll receive a notification on your phone (unless you disable notifications in the app). In the Bird Buddy app itself, simply click on the Home icon () on the bottom navigation bar to get to your Home feed.

Each postcard displays the bird(s) visiting your feeder, complete with all the images and, if available, videos from that session. To view all the footage within the same postcard, tap on the white arrow icon on the picture or video or simply swipe.

Other notifications: Non-postcard-related notifications can be accessed by clicking the Bell icon ()

Saving the Photos and Videos to Your Collection

• If you want to save all the content from a postcard to your Collection, tap on the Bookmark icon () located just below the image and all the photos will be saved to their respective collection.
• When you do, a pop-up will appear asking whether you want to share the postcard with the Bird Buddy community, you can choose 'Share to community' (see privacy note below) to make it public or 'Keep it private' to save it to your own collection only.

Editing and Sharing

• If you don’t want to keep all of the images from a postcard or correct the species, tap the Edit icon () to access the postcard editing flow (described below) where you can select the footage you want to save to the collection. 
• Use the Share icon () to send or share any photo with friends, family, or other bird enthusiasts through your favorite communication channel. 

Discarding Postcards

• To remove the entire postcard from your Home feed, use the X icon () in the top right corner. This will delete the postcard for good, but you'll have a brief moment to change your mind and undo it.
• Keep in mind that both saved and unsaved postcards will disappear from the main Home feed automatically after 7 days. 

Please note

Postcard creation process

The postcard feature is designed to bring you top-notch bird photos from your Bird Buddy. Here's how it works:

1. Detection: A bird needs to be near the center of the perch to activate our laser motion detector. This ensures the bird is in a prime position for photos.

2. Recording & AI Assessment: After the detector is activated, the Bird Buddy captures photos and videos.
   By default, Bird Buddy operates in the more-action mode. In this mode, every photo the Bird Buddy camera takes will be sent to your feed, even if no birds or wildlife are recognized.
   
   For a more streamlined experience, you can switch to the curated experience. In this mode, our AI filters out lower-quality images, ensuring only the best and most interesting photos are sent to you, prioritizing quality over quantity.
   
   Our AI bird-recognition model plays a key role here. This model carefully evaluates each image. It looks for clear, well-framed shots of birds and identifies their species. If all photos from a session are too blurry or not framed optimally (the bird is too close to the camera to get a nice short, for example), the AI model will discard these subpar photos.
                                        
   
   This is why sometimes you can see the "taking postcards" status in the app, but you don't receive any postcards from that camera session.
   
   You can learn more about the postcard creation process in this article. 

Postcard Tips

To ensure that our model has the finest bird photos from your Bird Buddy to choose from, consider these guidelines:

1. Fill the Seed Tray to the Brim: Max out the seed tray. When there's ample seed, birds are likely to land in ideal positions for the motion sensor and camera.

2. Adequate Lighting and Orientation: Poor lighting can compromise photo quality. If Bird Buddy is in a low-light spot, consider relocating it. Need tips to optimize image clarity? 
   → Check out our tips for optimal photo quality 📸🐦

3. Bird Acclimatization: Birds can be wary of new objects. At first, they might briefly visit or avoid the feeder. Given time, they'll become more familiar and linger, allowing for better photos.

4. Stay Updated: We're regularly refining our camera and the bird-detection AI. Always keep your camera updated with the latest firmware to capture the best images.

5. Obstruction Issues: Birds might occasionally block the camera or, post-rain, mud may cloud the lens. Regularly clean the camera lens with a dry cloth to maintain clarity.

6. Set Your Location: Our AI relies on your set location for better bird identification. Make sure it's accurate to improve photo results.

7. Sensor Sensitivity with Updates: With the newest firmware, the motion sensor is finely tuned and might be highly sensitive. If you notice birds visiting but aren't getting postcards, check for potential disturbances. Items like fluttering leaves on a nearby tree branch or any constantly moving objects in the camera's view could interfere. Eliminating such distractions can enhance photo capture.

Your cherished bird moments are our top priority, and these suggestions will help you achieve just that!

Editing postcards

You can edit your collection of postcards in case you want to correct bird species, add new ones, or delete certain photos. You can easily make these changes by entering the Edit Mode.

Accessing Edit Mode:

Option 1: Tap the Edit icon () located beneath the Postcard tile on the Home screen.
Option 2: Open the More options menu () at the top right corner of a Postcard and select Edit.

Once you're in Edit Mode, you'll see four main actions you can take:

• Edit species – Correct or add new bird species.
• Delete photo – Remove unwanted photos.
• Save – Save your changes.
• Back arrow – Go back without saving.

Read below for a detailed guide on how to use each functionality.

Edit species

Click the Edit species button, to rename the existing bird species. From there, click on the current species name (e.g., "Blue Jay") and change it (e.g., "Northern Cardinal").

Once you're happy with the change, you have two options:

• Confirm changes: Apply the change to this specific photo.
• Apply to all photos in this postcard: Apply the change across all photos in the Postcard.

A push notification will confirm your changes. If something goes wrong, an error message will appear.

Furthermore, if our AI-powered Nature Intelligence misses a species, you can manually add one. First, click the Add new species button.

Then select a species from the AI’s suggestions, or use the Search bar to find a specific species (e.g., "Northern Cardinal").

Once satisfied, hit Confirm changes or Apply to all photos in this postcard. You’ll receive a confirmation if the changes were saved successfully.

Additionally, if you wish to remove a bird species, tap the X next to the species you’d like to delete.

Delete photo

To delete a photo from your Postcard, simply tap Delete photo.

After the deletion, a notification will appear, confirming the action. If you change your mind, you can tap Undo to restore the photo.

Save

Click the Save button to store the photo in your Postcard collection.

After saving, you’ll have the option to share the Postcard with friends. If you want the app to remember your sharing preferences, check the box labeled Remember my choice.

A notification will let you know if the save was successful. If something goes wrong, you’ll be alerted with an error message.

Back Arrow

If you need to exit the Edit Mode without saving, tap the Back arrow. You’ll be prompted to either discard your changes or continue editing.