Wonder Unveils 'Petal': An AI-Powered Nature Camera for Capturing Backyard Biodiversity

Petal: Solar-powered camera spots bees, butterflies in your backyard

Petal is a camera inspired by nature. Using cutting-edge engineering and technology, the team has designed a camera that is flexible and versatile. It can be hung, mounted, or placed close to a natural habitat without being intrusive. The camera has a flexible stem that can be used to wrap around an actual stem or hang it from a branch to get a closer view. Powered by a solar panel, the device does not require you to worry about connecting electrical wires in your backyard. At a close glance, the camera looks much like a lampshade, but the housing helps equip it with different lenses that can switch between wide angles and close-up images. The device is typically housed in special modular units called Wonder Blocks. Built by Bird Budd, these units create a vibrant and biodiverse natural world that attracts butterflies, bees, and other insects to capture. Once the camera senses motion around it, it uses an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) layer to interpret visuals and sounds. Called Natural Intelligence, this layer can differentiate sounds of birds hatching from their eggs from something as faint as a butterfly flapping its wings. It can hear the buzzing of bees or even the flowers blooming and be set up to notify you when a certain event occurs.

Wonder 'Petal' Nature Camera Mimics a Flower to Attract Birds and Bugs

The creators of Bird Buddy unveiled a new series of products under new "Wonder" branding, including an AI-powered nature camera, Petal, that mimics a flower to get close-up shots of nectar-loving birds and insects. Petal is a new circular "biomorphic" camera that can wrap around branches -- like a vine -- or attach a flexible stem to be placed in a flower pot or garden. A solar panel similar in shape to a leaf powers the Petal camera. Beyond standing upright in a garden or flower pot and wrapping around things like branches, another attachment allows people to hang their Petal camera off a tree or pole to shoot straight down onto a terrarium or plant, perfect for watching bugs crawling around. Alongside the Wonder Petal, Bird Buddy announced Wonder Blocks, a modular set of blocks and products to help attract photographic subjects like butterflies. Beyond the pots is a dedicated Butterfly Feeder to provide butterflies a place to "rest and recharge," a terrarium, a bee hotel, a seed tray, and a bug hotel. The Petal sports a 12-megapixel camera that records 4K video, up from the 5-megapixel sensor on the most recent Bird Buddy that records up to 2K resolution video. The Petal also has a unique trick up its sleeve, though: swappable lenses. Users can swap between wide-angle and telephoto lenses depending on the photos and videos they want to capture. The different modules screw onto the Petal, making changing focal lengths a breeze. Like the Bird Buddy, the Petal will include AI features and connect to a smartphone app. Users can monitor the Petal camera live from their phones and remotely capture photos and videos to share with friends. The app can keep track of birds and insects seen by the camera, help users identify the species, and even has an AI chatbot that provides information about animals, insects, and the person's garden. "With our new products under a different brand name, Wonder, we are able to go beyond birds to reveal the marvelous secret life of nature hiding in plain sight," says Franci Zidar, CEO of Wonder. "Through Petal and Wonder Blocks we can use creative technology to spark curiosity and the joy of discovery, inviting people to connect and experience the natural world as it truly is, a place that is buzzing and enchanting." The Wonder Petal and Wonder Blocks will be available first on Kickstarter this spring. Pricing has not yet been announced.

Bird Buddy has a new camera that can identify bees and butterflies

The Bird Buddy smart bird feeder has become a popular gift item for bird lovers, as it not only captures photos and videos of birds, but can identify thousands of species, too. Now, Bird Buddy's parent company is expanding its offerings beyond our feathered friends so that you can capture images of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that come to your yard. At CES 2025, Wonder launched the Petal, a small wireless solar-powered Wi-Fi outdoor camera that can take pictures and videos of insects buzzing about. The Petal has a 4K, 12MP camera attached to a flexible "stem," so that you can place it pretty much anywhere in your yard. You can also get an optional solar "leaf," which will help keep the camera's battery charged. The Petal will come in two sizes, and can be outfitted with different lenses so you can get an up-close view of whatever comes in front of the camera. The Petal's AI, which the company calls Nature Intelligence, can ID the critters flitting about, and you can interact with its chatbot on your phone to learn more about the species. And, in the event of an invasive species attacking your plants -- say, a grasshopper munching on your leaves -- the AI will send you an alert. In the event you don't have a garden bed or planter box handy, the company is also launching what it calls Wonder Blocks, which are essentially modular plastic planters about the size of a small wastebasket. The Blocks can be outfitted with materials to attract different animals, such as a seed tray, a butterfly feeder, or a bee hotel. Wonder said that both the Petal and the Wonder Base will be available this spring -- just in time for the first buds of May -- though pricing has not yet been set. The Wonder Petal is the second big expansion to the Bird Buddy lineup; the company launched a smart hummingbird feeder last year. Now that it's covered the birds, going after the bees seems the next logical step.