VOA · Arts & Culture
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed4:322025-01-10public domain
The Arts & Culture beat covers music, film, museums, food, and traditions from the United States and around the world. The reports are short, vivid, and full of everyday descriptive language — great for learners who want vocabulary beyond textbooks.
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01Marin Planck had no interest in birds when she gave her husband a camera-equipped, or smart, bird feeder for his birthday.
02But that changed.
03In fact, the American woman became so interested in watching birds that most of the gifts she received for Christmas last month were bird-related.
04This is who I am now, she said.
05Friends sometimes stop Planck on the street to talk about the images of birds that she shares on social media.
06She also now orders bird food to be sent to her home in Lewis, Delaware.
07It all started when she got her first message from the Bird Buddy app, which provides photos and videos that can be saved and shared.
08When she saw the birds looking into the camera and the expressions on their faces, they won her heart, she said.
09Although the North American bird population continues to drop sharply, the number of people watching birds is increasing.
10In the past, bird watching was an outdoor activity.
11But now, smart feeders permit people to watch the wildlife from inside their homes.
12Franchi Zidar is founder and CEO of Bird Buddy, which has sold 350,000 smart bird feeders since 2022.
13He said that people with a strong interest in watching birds usually put much effort into finding them in the wild.
14There are, however, 20 to 30 species of birds in most U.S.
15backyards that people either don't really know or appreciate.
16Several other companies, including BirdFi, also make bird feeders that have cameras.
17Most people buy bird feeders because they want to help support the animals.
18Smart bird feeders help supply that support just as traditional feeders do.
19But smart feeders go a step further, Zidar said, by letting people watch and enjoy the birds they feed.
20Bird Buddy has proven so successful that the company is creating other products to provide appealing environments for butterflies and other insects.
21Bird Buddy announced the new products at CES, the event formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
22Judy Ashley of Ipswich, Massachusetts, already had 11 bird feeders in her yard when she added a Bird Buddy last year.
23She recently captured a picture of a yellow-throated warbler at the feeder.
24The bird is a rarity in the northeastern United States.
25She said, What's amazing is how close you can see the details of backyard birds that you just wouldn't see if you just stood there for hours with binoculars.
26Rachel Matthews in Austin, Texas, has three camera-equipped feeders, including one for hummingbirds.
27Matthews grew up with bird feeders, but the smart feeders have increased her interest, she said.
28I love having the camera, and I see detail that even with my binoculars, I'd never seen, she said, noting the red eyebrows and little feathers on female cardinals.
29In November, the National Audubon Society announced a partnership with Bird Buddy to educate the public about bird conservation.
30The partnership could provide a way to get data gathered by bird feeders to scientists, an Audubon Society spokesperson said.
31In Delaware, Planck has gotten to know the birds that visit her feeder a little better.
32I give them these personalities in my mind, and it's about having them right in front of my face, she said.
33I'm Jill Robbins.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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