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BirdWatchAI User Manual

Everything you need to identify birds at your feeder — automatically.

Windows Desktop App Raspberry Pi Server Docker Community at www.birdwatchai.com

BirdWatchAI watches a camera pointed at your bird feeder and uses AI to identify the species that visit — saving photos, recording short clips, and sending you a notification when something interesting shows up. This manual covers both editions: the original Windows desktop app and the newer cross-platform server (Raspberry Pi, Docker on Windows, or any Linux box).

New here? Start with these three.

1. Read Part 1 — Introduction to understand what BirdWatchAI does and which edition fits your setup.

2. Follow Part 2 — Installation for your platform (Windows, Pi, or Docker).

3. Walk through Part 3 — First-Time Setup to point the app at your camera.

Browse by part

Part 1

Introduction

What BirdWatchAI is, how it works, which edition to choose, and what you need to run it.

Part 2

Installation

Step-by-step setup for the Windows desktop app, Raspberry Pi server, and the Docker stack on Windows or Linux.

Part 3

First-Time Setup

Walk through the setup wizard: camera, location, notifications, and community sharing.

Part 4

Camera Hardware

RTSP cameras (TP-Link Tapo, Reolink, Amcrest…), the wired Raspberry Pi camera, placement and lighting tips.

Part 5

Configuration

Every setting explained for both editions, plus notification channels and community sharing levels.

Part 6

Daily Use

Dashboard tour, detection history, gallery, statistics, and the community site at www.birdwatchai.com.

Part 7

Troubleshooting

Common problems and fixes for cameras, detections, notifications, Docker containers, and time-zone surprises.

Part 8

Advanced Topics

Docker commands, custom data folders, headless operation, ONVIF motion tuning, backups, and migration.

Editions at a glance

If you have…	Use…	See
A Windows PC that's already on most of the time	Windows desktop app	Part 2 → Windows desktop
A Raspberry Pi 4 / 5 (or any always-on Linux box)	Server (Docker)	Part 2 → Raspberry Pi
A dedicated Windows machine you'd rather run headless	Server on Docker Desktop	Part 2 → Windows + Docker
A wired Pi Camera Module (CSI ribbon)	Server on a Raspberry Pi	Part 4 → Pi camera

Looking for the old single-page manual? It still lives at docs/manual.html and is the Windows-app reference for the moment. This new structure is where all platforms (desktop + server) come together.