Smart Bird Watching for Everyone

NestNinja is an open core project creating affordable, high-quality bird box camera systems for bird enthusiasts, researchers, and conservationists.

We offer both a fully-featured open source Community Edition and commercial products with premium features.

🎯 Our Mission

To make bird monitoring accessible to everyone through quality products and open innovation, empowering:

  • Hobbyists to enjoy and study birds in their gardens with easy-to-use systems
  • Tinkerers to customize and enhance their bird boxes with smart camera modules
  • Makers to build custom solutions using our Community Edition open-source firmware
  • Educators to teach students about nature and technology
  • Researchers to collect valuable behavioral data
  • Conservationists to monitor endangered species

🔬 The Project

What We’re Building

A complete smart bird box system featuring:

  • HD video streaming (1080p)
  • Night vision capability
  • Motion-activated wake
  • Low power consumption
  • Local storage (no cloud required)
  • Wi-Fi 6 connectivity
  • Fully open source Community Edition
  • Premium features available commercially

Why ESP32-P4?

We chose the ESP32-P4 platform for its unique combination of:

  • Hardware H.264 video encoding
  • Low power deep sleep modes
  • Excellent camera interface
  • Strong developer ecosystem
  • Affordable price point

👥 The Team

Project Lead

Craig Hutchinson - Hardware & Firmware Developer
GitHub

Contributors

This project welcomes contributions from the community. See our Community page to get involved!

📖 Project History

2026

  • February: Project launched
  • Current: Architecture design phase
  • ESP32-P4 platform selection
  • Core component research and testing

Roadmap

See our detailed roadmap for upcoming milestones.

🌱 Philosophy

Quality Products, Open Innovation

We follow an open core model: the Community Edition firmware is fully open source, while premium features are developed separately for commercial products.

Commercial Products:

  • High-quality complete bird box systems
  • Smart camera modules for DIY bird boxes
  • Professional support and warranties
  • Easy setup for non-technical users
  • Advanced premium features (AI species recognition, cloud backup, fleet management)

Community Edition (Open Source):

  • Full bird box monitoring capabilities (HD streaming, night vision, motion detection)
  • Complete ESP32-P4 firmware source code
  • Hardware designs and documentation
  • Support for component-level DIY builds
  • Community-driven improvements welcomed

Core Values:

  • Accessible - Options for every skill level and budget
  • Transparent - Clear about what’s open and what’s commercial
  • Collaborative - Community feedback shapes development
  • Private - Your data belongs to you, not the cloud

Bird-Friendly Design

  • Non-invasive monitoring
  • IR lighting invisible to most birds
  • Minimal disturbance
  • Respects wildlife welfare

Educational Focus

  • Well-documented builds
  • Learning resources
  • STEM education support
  • Citizen science opportunities

🔧 Technology Stack

Hardware:

  • Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6 development board
  • OV5647 camera with 160° fisheye lens
  • HC-SR501 PIR motion sensor
  • microSD storage

Software:

  • ESP-IDF v6.0+ framework
  • CMake build system
  • C/C++ firmware
  • H.264 hardware encoding

Development:

  • GitHub for version control
  • Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
  • Test-driven development (planned)
  • Continuous integration (planned)

🏅 Recognition & Press

(Press coverage and awards will be listed here as the project grows)

🤝 Partnerships

We welcome partnerships with:

  • Conservation Organizations - Help protect endangered species
  • Educational Institutions - Support STEM learning
  • Bird Watching Groups - Engage communities
  • Hardware Manufacturers - Improve accessibility

Interested? Contact us

📜 License

Commercial Products:

  • Complete bird box systems: Proprietary hardware with commercial support
  • Smart camera modules: Proprietary hardware with commercial support

Open Source:

  • Community Edition Firmware: GPL-3.0 (full source code for core functionality)
  • Hardware Designs: Reference designs and schematics (license TBD)
  • Documentation: Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0

Premium Features: Proprietary (advanced AI, cloud services, fleet management)

Timeline: Community Edition will be open-sourced when product reaches stable commercial release (targeting Q3 2026).

💰 Funding

NestNinja is currently a volunteer-driven project with no external funding. All development is done in spare time by contributors.

Future possibilities:

  • Crowdfunding for production runs
  • GitHub Sponsors for ongoing development
  • Grants from conservation organizations

🗺️ Roadmap

Phase 0: Foundation (Current)

  • ✅ Hardware selection
  • ✅ Architecture design
  • 🔄 Core component testing

Phase 1: Development

  • Camera integration
  • Video encoding
  • Power management
  • Basic streaming

Phase 2: Features

  • Motion detection
  • Recording capabilities
  • Configuration interface
  • Mobile app (planned)

Phase 3: Polish

  • Production firmware
  • Comprehensive documentation
  • Installation kits
  • Community support systems

📍 Location

United Kingdom

While the core team is UK-based, NestNinja is a global project welcoming contributors worldwide.

📬 Contact Us

General: hello@nestninja.uk
Technical: GitHub Issues
Press: press@nestninja.uk
Twitter: @NestNinjaUK

🙏 Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

  • Espressif for the ESP32-P4 platform
  • Waveshare for excellent development boards
  • ESP-IDF community for comprehensive documentation
  • Bird conservation organizations for inspiration
  • All contributors who have helped shape this project

🐦 For the Birds

Ultimately, this project is about connecting people with nature and protecting the birds we love. Whether you’re a developer, bird watcher, educator, or just someone who enjoys seeing birds at the nest, we’re glad you’re here.

Happy bird watching! 🦜

← Community View GitHub →