In this article, I show you how I built my own Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-based bird camera. The project consists of a lot of different techniques, which makes it interesting to build. It requires some electronics knowledge, some CAD and 3D printing knowledge and a little bit of woodworking. The result is a fun remote bird feeder with high-resolution live feed.

I am getting more and more birds around the house. There are a few feeders around the house, but I can only take pictures from the inside through the windows. This does not always result in a good picture due to unwanted reflections and other issues. Therefore, I wanted to build a bird feeder that has a built-in camera. Sure, there are off-the-shelf devices on the internet for this exact purpose, but making my DIY version allows me to learn new techniques and have full control over my device. No subscriptions, no weird cloud services or other similar things. Actually, if I stop for a moment to justify my build, I could perhaps even say that my camera-related setup is cheaper than the off-the-shelf competitors. Perhaps some features are not that excellent, but I will discuss these details below.

The core of the device is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W microcomputer and a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3. The Pi is a powerful little device with a processor clocked at 1 GHz and 512 MB RAM. It has built-in wireless connectivity, an SD card slot, a micro HDMI port and plenty of GPIO ports. It is a really powerful device, and it is so popular that my local electronics store has limited stock, and one can only buy 1 unit per purchase. I saw other creators around the world talking about supply issues, too.

The camera is a 12 MP autofocus camera based on a Sony IMX708 sensor. It is able to record 1080p footage at 50 FPS or take still images at 4608 × 2592 pixels. With proper software, we can utilise the camera very well.

So, the camera and communication will be managed by the above devices. However, the device must be powered somehow, and we must keep in mind that it will be sitting outdoors!

Battery-only operation is not really an option because I don’t want to change and charge batteries often. Direct power supply via a power adapter is not an option either because I do not have any outlets around the house where it would make sense to place the feeder. (make footage of showing an 18165 battery and a power adapter)

Therefore, I decided to finally start getting some experience with solar panels and battery chargers. It is a bit overkill perhaps, but the system will be powered by a 12.8 V 6000 mAh LiFePO4 battery, which is managed by a 12 V 10 A PWM solar charge controller. The solar panel is a 25 W 12 V monocrystalline panel.

Tips for assembly:

• The lid can be attached using 4x10 mm M3 bolts
• The USB socket requires 2x10mm M3 bolts, 2x nuts and 2x washers (optional, but recommended)
• The front panel requires 4x10mm M2.5 bolts
• The camera requires 4x12mm M2 bolts, 4x nuts and 4x washers
• The Pi requires 4x10mm M3 bolts, 4x nuts and 4x plastic(!) washers
• The enclosure's mounting holes on the side are 5 mm in diameter.
• For the lid and the camera shield, it is recommended to use a drop of thread locker glue (or even regular glue) in the holes.