Arne Giacomo Munthe-Kaas' "fugleramme" (bird frame or bird picture frame when translated from Norwegian) is quite simply the perfect way to see what birds enjoy the world outside your window.
We've gone through the bill of materials and priced them up, we've also suggested an alternative, lower cost build based on the Raspberry Pi 5 1GB, and the smaller Inky Impression 7.3".
| Component | BirdNET-Go Version | Alternative Version |
|---|---|---|
| Computer | Raspberry Pi 5 2GB (£62.40) | Raspberry Pi 5 1GB (£43.20) |
| E Ink Display | Inky Impression 13.3" (£229.50) | Inky Impression 7.3" (£79.50) |
| Storage | 32GB Micro SD (£9.60) | 64GB Micro SD (£19.20) |
| Cooling | Raspberry Pi Active Cooler (£4.50) | Raspberry Pi Active Cooler (£4.50) |
| Power | Official Raspberry Pi 27W PSU (£11.40) | Official Raspberry Pi 27W PSU (£11.40) |
| Microphone | Boya BY-M3 (No longer available, can be found for £16.55) | Neewer USB Lapel Microphone (£11.89) |
| Frame | IKEA RÖDALM A4 frame (£6) | A4 Frame (£6.99) |
| Total Cost | £339.95 | £176.68 |
The self-hosted Raspberry Pi 5 based project is built on top of BirdNET-Go, a "real time soundscape analyser for birds, wildlife, and bats" that is based upon Cornell University's BirdNET project.
BirdNET-Go uses a USB microphone to listen for birds. Using machine learning BirdNET-Go identifies the birds before pulling beautiful illustrations from a local database. The images are then used to populate a collage that is displayed on our super-crisp Inky Impression 13.3 E Ink®, 1600 x 1200 resolution display. The build is housed inside an IKEA A4 picture frame.
The bird illustrations cover Northern Europe ( a limitation addressed in the GitHub read me), and they are sourced from "historic, public-domain natural-history drawings, hand-curated for this project" and matched to the detected birds. Larger birds (sized using body mass) are placed in the centre of the frame, with smaller birds around the outside. If there are no birds to be heard, the scene will show an empty perch.
From no birds, to many birds, Fugleramme updates to show who is visiting your garden. Image credit: Arne Giacomo Munthe-Kaas
The project lives on Arne Giacomo Munthe-Kaas' kitchen window, a location which also sees interest from local squirrels who steal bird food from a window feeder. Inky Impression 13.3 drops right into an IKEA RÖDALM 21x30 (A4) frame and looks great in your home without spending too much (of course you have to have meatballs and that Daim cake, so factor that into your build costs.) If you want to monitor your garden from afar, or want to share your garden with the world, then you can easily serve the illustration as a web page.
This image was taken directly from the Raspberry Pi 5 on Arne Giacomo Munthe-Kaas' kitchen window.
The GitHub project page details exactly how to install your own and Arne Giacomo Munthe-Kaas is keen to emphasize that "The mic matters more than the Pi" with good placement of the microphone providing a clear reading of the birds.
Fugleramme is a beautiful way to learn about the visitors to your garden while keeping dry and warm as the Northern Hemisphere approaches Autumn.
Our Inky Impression E Ink® displays are super crisp, low power and look great from a variety of viewing angles. They have high pixel density and bright vivid colours, perfect for showing off gorgeous dithered images