I Turned My Security Cameras into an Automatic Bird Identification System

My woman loves listening to the birds and identifying them utilizing an app connected her phone. I thought I'd return this a measurement further and spot if location was thing that tin place the birds based connected their song. Looking astir I recovered BirdNet and BirdNet-Go, past discovered you tin tally this connected Docker and usage the information cameras you already person extracurricular to place the birds. Awesome! So I took 3 of the cameras astir my location and utilized their microphones to place the birds. It was magic.

Real-Time Bird and Bat Audio Detection

BirdNet-Go runs 24/7. It listens constantly. The infinitesimal a vertebrate starts singing, it analyzes the audio and gives you an identification. No waiting, nary manual recording. It useful for bats too, which is beautiful cool if you've sewage them flying astir astatine dusk. The strategy conscionable keeps moving successful the background, cataloging everything it hears. It besides started detecting frogs which is interesting.

Multi-Model Local AI Inference Engine

The full point runs locally connected your hardware. No unreality services. No API calls. The AI models unrecorded correct connected your server aliases Raspberry Pi. This intends it's fast, private, and doesn't costs you thing per month. You tin moreover tally aggregate models if you want different discovery strategies aliases location vertebrate databases. They precocious added Google Perch v2 to the exemplary assemblage allowing for 14,795 type to beryllium detected vs the 6,000 that BirdNET 2.4 provided.

Alert Rules pinch Species List Matching

You tin group up rules for circumstantial birds. Want to cognize the instant a cardinal shows up? Done. Looking for a uncommon type successful your area? Set an alert. The strategy matches against type lists and sends you notifications based connected immoderate criteria you set. It's for illustration having a birding buddy who ne'er sleeps. I moreover person it connected to a transmission successful my homes Discord server. Wait, your location doesn't person a dedicated Discord?

Setting up notifications and alerts for vertebrate sightings into the location discord transmission #birdnet

Species Novelty Tracking for New Detections

This characteristic tracks which birds are caller to your yard. First clip a bluish jay visits? BirdNet-Go flags it. It maintains a moving database of each type it's detected, truthful you tin spot your yard's biodiversity turn complete time. Honestly, this turned into a nosy crippled for us.

RTSP Stream Support for IP Cameras

If your cameras support RTSP, you're bully to go. Most modern IP cameras do. You conscionable constituent BirdNet-Go astatine the watercourse URL. I utilized 3 of my existing information cameras. Didn't request to bargain immoderate typical hardware. The cameras I already had for information now propulsion double work identifying birds.

BirdWeather Integration for Data Sharing

BirdWeather is simply a organization level for sharing vertebrate discovery data. BirdNet-Go integrates pinch it directly. If you want to lend your observations to a larger dataset, you can. It helps researchers and different birders spot what's happening successful your area. You don't person to usage it, but it's bully that the action exists.

Self-Hosted pinch No Cloud Dependencies

Everything lives connected your network. The audio ne'er leaves your location unless you explicitly stock it. No subscription fees. No position of work changes. No institution shutting down the work successful 2 years. You ain the full stack. It runs successful Docker, truthful it's easy to negociate alongside everything other successful your homelab.

Can link to Home Assistant

Evernything needs to beryllium capable to link to Home Assistant and BirdNET-Go tin usage MQTT to beryllium discovered successful Home Assistant.

Visual Audio Channel Energy Level Analysis

The interface shows you real-time audio levels for each channel. You tin spot precisely what the microphones are picking up. This helps you position cameras amended aliases troubleshoot why 1 isn't detecting anything. Sometimes you'll recognize the camera is pointed astatine a noisy AC portion aliases getting upwind noise, and you tin set accordingly.

Final Thoughts

Look, this task amazed me. I expected it to beryllium neat but figured I'd get saturated aft a week. Instead, my woman and I cheque it daily. We've learned which birds sojourn astatine what times. We've spotted type we didn't cognize lived nearby. My friends sewage willing too, I made this avaiable connected the nationalist location domain sanction (behind Cloudflare of course.) and allowed a fewer of my friends to link to it and spot really it works. It turned our information camera setup into thing genuinely useful beyond security. If you've sewage cameras pinch microphones and moreover a passing liking successful birds, springiness BirdNet-Go a shot. It's 1 of those homelab projects that really improves regular life alternatively of conscionable being technically interesting.