Updated: May 8, 2025, 1:45 PM EDT Bird Friends’ Kickstarter campaign For Petal Nature cameras and Wonder Blocks, $2.1 million has been raised now (11 days left), surpassing its original fundraising target by nearly 2,000%. Thanks to this success, the company announced today that all Petal cameras will come with free LED light ring attachments that users will be able to control remotely. When the user takes a photo at night, the light will automatically turn on. Our original story follows.
Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the largest display case in the technology industry, dozens of new gadgets are introduced each year. However, many of these products have never been available. They are just proof of concept or prototype of equipment perhaps One day it is possible to enter the market.
This makes Bird Buddy’s new $129 Petal Smart Anture Camera a little bit. After debuting at CES 2025 in January, Petal and its modular miracle system were finally ordered on Kickstarter on April 29, becoming an instant smash. A company representative said the sport raised $1.5 million from more than 5,000 supporters in 24 hours, cutting its $100,000 fundraising target by 1,400%. (At the time of writing, it received over $1.8 million in bonuses from 6,300 supporters.
Why all the hype? I want to share my point of view as he had to check the petals and miracle blocks on the CES showroom floor in the past winter.
Credits: Haley Henschel/Mashable
Bird partner to bee partner
The bird’s name alone has a big swing. Since its debut in late 2020, the company’s smart bird feeder of the same name has a built-in camera that can identify different bird species.
Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar told me at CES that the company has cultivated a passionate user base and is passionate about connecting with nature. Zidal said petals are an obvious next step that can help people better understand local ecosystems, rather than birds capturing backyard plants, insects and pollinators.
Image source: Bird Brother
Design-wise, Petal is a 12MP camera with cup-shaped boxes in several colors. You can install the petals by clamping them to the side of a pole or seeder, or simply wrap their bent, bendable stem holders around a branch or door. More friendly and more serious than your standard security camera. (Cite my CES writing, the base and stem combination make it look like a “simple bionic flower.”)
Mixable light speed
According to its news material, the Petal boat has a covered macro lens that can be used for detailed close-ups and oval solar panels, which section keeps it running “indefinitely in most environments”. Without a panel, the device’s “low power architecture” makes it run between charges for more than a month.
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Zidar said in January that petals aren’t about being a lovely backyard CCTV system: its purpose is to get you based on local flora and fauna. Its cameras can identify over 2,000 species using visual and audio cues. It can also use a “advanced AI layer” called natural intelligence to detect changes in the surrounding environment, which enables users to pay attention to these changes. For example, if the songbird starts building nests in nearby trees, you will get Ping.
Credits: Haley Henschel/Mashable
According to the press release, Petal’s Companion App has a “built-in storytelling engine” called Nature’s Voice, which can use the highlights from its 4K videotape to create “BBC Earth-Earth-style mini documentary.” Its narrator makes a good impression.
A feature called Influence Score gives user insights into the biodiversity and frequency of pollination access in the backyard. Users looking to increase this frequency can study Wonder Blocks, a modular habitat system for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds that are fired along with flower petals. Together they formed what the bird partner called a “smart nature observatory.”
The core miracle block configuration includes a petal camera, a viewing rod and a self-watering flower base called Habitat. The latter contains a built-in bee habitat, a bee observatory and a “microwater feature” called a stream. It comes with a seed pod that grows into native flowers in your area. You can also add accessories such as butterfly shelter, hummingbird feeder, and magnetic lattice.
Credits: Haley Henschel/Mashable
Bird Buddy CEO Zidar initially told me that the petals cost less than $100, but Bird Buddy costs $129 for early supporters. (There is also a duo with two cameras and a viewing rod for $249.) The Wonder Blocks setup ranges from $299 to $1,199. Plants grown in a single habitat can also be sold for $149.
For those who have been waiting for the petals and surprise blocks since the advent of CES, be patient: they will start shipping in mid-2026. I know, I know – there is still a long way to go.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder is available for $199 on Amazon.
Meet the Bird Partner Product Line
