Has anyone found a way to trigger a (Home Assistant) action based on the detection of a specific species of bird?

[nbanderso]

Hello,

I managed to get birdnet-pi up and running and am now trying to figure out a way to trigger an action based on a bird species being detected. For example "When Species X is identified, flash bedroom lamp twice."

Ideally this would be done via Home Assistant but I'm not quite sure how to pull/store the information into Home Assistant. I setup Home Assistant messages using Apprise but it seems that it only sends the notification and I can't trigger an action off of that.

Has anyone be able to accomplish this? If so, whats your secret?

thanks in advance!

[Vertikar]

I've just started looking into getting some data from BirdNET into my home assistant too, thinking mqtt from apprise is probably the best bet.

[matthew73210]

Hello,

I managed to get birdnet-pi up and running and am now trying to figure out a way to trigger an action based on a bird species being detected. For example "When Species X is identified, flash bedroom lamp twice."

Ideally this would be done via Home Assistant but I'm not quite sure how to pull/store the information into Home Assistant. I setup Home Assistant messages using Apprise but it seems that it only sends the notification and I can't trigger an action off of that.

Has anyone be able to accomplish this? If so, whats your secret?

thanks in advance!

Hey,

I've been looking into this aswell. Via apprise it's probs not possible to parse data out of notifications, but via mqtt I think that it would be poss with a template sensor. Couldn't get the mqtt version of apprise to work though.Tad busy with work atm (night shifts) but I'm looking into making a docker version of this project. Currently got it installed in a debian container, I just need to sort out getting the services started, then start separating out each service into it's own container. My end goal is for it to become a home assistant add-on. It would open up this project to a very vast community.

[B-Kramer]

Hey @lloydbayley

I just got birdnet-pi up and running and I'm trying to cobble together some mqtt notifications. Did the last line of your DB query get truncated? It says:

var_detect_last_hour=$(sqlite3 $HOME/BirdNET-Pi/scripts/birds.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM detections WHERE Time > Time('now', 'localtime', '-1 hour') AND Date>

right now but I think the DATE part is missing and I don't know enough to fix it.

[lloydbayley]

You're absolutely right! I missed that it must have cut off during the copy/paste. I've edited the post now but the line should end with: AND Date == DATE>

[nbanderso]

@lloydbayley I am using your examples and it is working great! Quick question:

Is it possible to create a boolean sensor when a specific species of bird is detected?

I have a Cooper's hawk that is terrorizing the birds at my feeder and I was thinking I could create an automation that triggers my sprinkler system when a cooper's hawk is detected.

[lloydbayley]

Nice idea! Assuming you can get it to call before eating :) If it sneaks in, you're sunk!
Ok. Seriously, I would probably not bother about creating another sensor and would handle it all in an automation within HA.
If you want some hints on how I would do that, do let me know.

[gerdesj]

You need to rework your "feeder". You are actually providing a hawk feeder by enticing it's prey to a well known spot! Nature is sadly "red in tooth and claw". I too get somewhat traumatised when a "cute" thing gets torn to pieces and it is even worse when I've caused it.

So, let's think about this: You (and I) want to assist your local song birds through bad times with feed and perhaps water too to encourage wildlife diversity. If we are really honest: try to offset some part of our human impact on the environment.

So, you know already what is the best feed type - it'll probably be meal worms and/or seed based. You probably also ensure that old seed/mix doesn't go mouldy.

Hawks are phenomenally keen eyed. Prey err... song birds have eyes on the side of their heads so they see roughly 120 degrees in all directions, which is way more than us - we are actually more hunter than hunted - our eyes and binocular vision work more like hawks - we can home in and target prey. Our bino vision makes us phenomenal hunters, combined with weapons.

Song bird sight does not include directly upwards and from behind which is where hawks and us generally come from when we are on the hunt.

Your favoured birds will twitch from side to side, just like we do to fill out their knowledge of the environment but a hawk travelling at 100 mph will arrive and break a spine rather quickly. So, you need to provide cover over your feeding system. Trees and bushes are great for this.

We all have to become way more sophisticated about wildlife if we are to effectively conserve it.

However, as Mr Tesco says: "Every little helps"

[phillprice]

You can make this slightly easier like this:

setup apprise like this (not my real details) for every detection

mqtt://birdpi:[email protected]:1883/birdpi/apprise

Set the apprise title as empty and the body as this

{"Common_Name": "$comname", "Scientific_Name": "$sciname", "Confidence_Score": "$confidence", "link": "$listenurl", "Date": "$date", "Time": "$time", "Week": "$week", "Latitude": "$latitude", "Longitude": "$longitude", "Minimum_Confidence": "$cutoff", "Sigmoid_Sensitivity": "$sens", "Overlap": "$overlap", "Image": "$flickrimage"}

setup an mqtt sensor:

mqtt:
  - sensor:
      - name: "Garden Birds"
        state_topic: "birdpi/apprise"
        json_attributes_topic: "birdpi/apprise"
        value_template: "{{ value_json.Common_Name }}"

I also setup a 'camera' for the image:

camera:
  - platform: generic
    name: Garden Bird
    still_image_url: >
      {{ state_attr('sensor.garden_birds','Image') }}

I have a mushroom card setup like this (you'll need mushroom and stack-in cards to copy directly):

type: custom:stack-in-card
cards:
  - type: custom:mushroom-template-card
    primary: >-
      {{states.sensor.garden_birds.state}} | {% set state =
      states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Confidence_Score %}{{ (state | float
      * 100) | round(0) if is_number(state)}}%
    secondary: >-
      {{states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Scientific_Name}} |  

      {{states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Date}}
      {{states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Time  }}
    entity: sensor.garden_birds
    icon: mdi:bird
  - camera_view: auto
    type: picture-glance
    entities: []
    camera_image: camera.garden_bird
    aspect_ratio: '3:2'

(EDIT: Added missing mqtt sensor)

[rappazzo]

I seem to be having trouble with the camera when setting this up. My logs say

Logger: homeassistant.components.generic.camera
Source: components/generic/camera.py:211
Integration: Generic Camera (documentation, issues)
First occurred: March 10, 2023 at 4:21:31 PM (53 occurrences)
Last logged: 4:11:47 PM

Error getting new camera image from Latest Bird: Request URL is missing an 'http://' or 'https://' protocol.

If I send a sample, it seems to receive it with https

{
    "commonName": "Canada Goose",
    "scientificName": "Branta canadensis",
    "confidence": 0.9558173,
    "link": "http://birdnetpi.local/?filename=Canada_Goose-96-2023-03-11-birdnet-06:34:36.mp3",
    "date": "2023-03-11",
    "time": "06:34:36",
    "week": 10,
    "latitude": 1.1111,
    "longitude": 2.2222,
    "image": "https://live.staticflickr.com/7430/27545810581_8bfa8289a3_c.jpg"
}

Can anyone see what I have wrong?

mqtt:
  sensor:
    - name: "Birds"
      state_topic: "birdnet/sightings"
      json_attributes_topic: "birdnet/sightings"
      value_template: "{{ value_json.commonName }}"
      json_attributes_template: '{{ value_json | tojson }}'

camera:
  - platform: generic
    name: Latest Bird
    still_image_url: "{{ state_attr('sensor.birds','image') }}"

The attributes on sensor.birds seem to line up with the json.

[phillprice]

What does this show in developer tools > template?

{{ state_attr('sensor.birds','image') }}

Is it always happening or only after a restart and then after the next message it works?

[rappazzo]

It's always happening.
When I use the developer tools > template, it says null

(edit): Actually, when I send a sample mqtt event, it gets the url

[rappazzo]

I may have found something. I was looking through the logs, and I saw.

Loading generic IP camera via configuration.yaml is deprecated, it will be automatically imported. Once you have confirmed correct operation, please remove 'generic' (IP camera) section(s) from configuration.yaml
When I went to the Generic Camera integration, the converted config capitalized the "I" in "image". My birdnet is sending lowercase i "image", not "Image". I made the adjustment, and the generic camera seems to be working. I have yet to see an image that isn't the sample penguins.

Sometimes talking out the problem is enough to get you to it. Thanks.

[phillprice]

A quick update here I no longer use camera i use image

image template:

template:
  - image:
      - name: bird photo
        verify_ssl: false
        url: "{{ state_attr('sensor.garden_birds','Image') }}"

card

  - type: custom:stack-in-card
    cards:
      - show_state: false
        show_name: false
        camera_view: auto
        type: picture-entity
        entity: image.bird_photo
      - type: custom:mushroom-template-card
        primary: >-
          {{states.sensor.garden_birds.state}} | {{states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Time  }}
        secondary: '{{states.sensor.garden_birds.attributes.Scientific_Name}}'
        entity: sensor.garden_birds
        icon: ''```

[lloydbayley]

It's also prettier than my monstrosity, however, in my defence, I did this quite some time ago AND was only concerned with consuming data internally to an LCD display, so I hadn't tarted it up like @phillprice has. I must implement this in the front-of-house so to speak and leave the monster running for the back-end as I'm sure there was another thing I wanted to get out of the database that I couldn't have natively. I should probably re-visit it and see if I can roll it all into one.

[phillprice]

Apologies my actual MQTT sensors are setup as a separate file so the indentation might differ in what I typed. I'm also on the latest HA - the mqtt setup changed recently. With that in mind here's my actual mqtt sensor setup:

config/configuration.yaml

mqtt: !include mqtt.yaml

config/mqtt.yaml

sensor:
  - name: "Garden Birds"
    state_topic: "birdpi/apprise"
    json_attributes_topic: "birdpi/apprise"
    value_template: "{{ value_json.Common_Name }}"

No worries @lloydbayley I apprise is quite new in the repo

[lloydbayley]

Oh god yes, I recommend breaking up your config files folks! It's SO much easier. Especially if you have them under SVN control like I do (because I can't be trusted with late-night edits! :)

[d0ugal]

SVN! That is a blast from the past.

[grex023]

I'm not sure if anyone is still watching this thread, but after some trials and tribulations (not really understanding how MQTT works) and all the help here especially @phillprice great codes, I've managed to get this integrated nicely into HA! Thank you so much!

I have one problem left, much like @nbanderso my sensor goes to 'sleep' until a new bird is detected so I end up with the code rather than the last bird (roughly 20 mins) in the description fields of the card. Is there a way to poll my Birdnet install from HA to keep the sensor 'awake' so to speak? I saw @lloydbayley talking about setting up a cron job on the server but that might be past my expertise.

[phillprice]

Well I have an option or two there. I did have a duplicate of the latest detection file that made a json response instead of html and used a rest sensor to collect it.

Another option is to store the mqtt message on disk somewhere and poll that on start up perhaps.

[grex023]

Thanks for getting back to me. I was hoping there would be a simple solution, but unfortunately both those options are well above my pay grade! I think I get enough detections during the day that it is mostly not an issue, more vanity I guess, however I did notice this morning that I still have the Tawny Owl from 23:07 last night so maybe it's intermittent.

[lloydbayley]

Interesting idea about storing it on disk. Of course, you could roll your own MQTT output with mosquitto_pub which allows the retain flag specifically for this purpose but that presumes one has the knowledge required so to do.

I raised a suggestion with Apprise about having retain flag availability and apparently it is something they are working on: caronc/apprise#799 (comment) (see the link the chap posted in response to my question).

If they DO get this done, it would be a matter of updating Apprise to encompass this. I suppose without 'rolling your own' we shall have to wait and see.

[lloydbayley]

Well, you could do that. It's really up to you. @phillprice has a nice idea if you like hide 'n seek!

[grex023]

I do like hide and seek! I already have a conditional card that lets the family know what type of exercise I'm up to based on location and/or activity type so this could work! Thanks for the reminder @phillprice !

[lloydbayley]

Conditional things are good. I have a few conditional badges on the top that flash red when things are wrong or of importance. Also, a card with a red border when windows/doors are open etc etc. It's a bit of fun! :)

[grex023]

I've tried various ways to use the conditional card but nothing seems to be consistent. Seems like there isn't a singular state to be in. I've tried variations of IS and IS NOT equal to: current, unknown, state and it either ends up with nothing, or eventually the string text appears again. Think it's time to give up and just live with it

[lloydbayley]

I don't think there's much we can do until Apprise includes the retain flag. You could always click the Test notification button in settings and you'd at least get some penguins in a picture.. :)

[grex023]

I recently (this weekend) migrated to the new analyser (3k) and notifications seem to have stopped. They work if I do a test from BirdNET but not independently. Has anyone else noticed this?

[phillprice]

I've not upgraded yet.

I see there's a new model and new try catch around notifications.

If you switch the mode to the old one does it still present a problem?

[ehpersonal38]

Hi, I just tested with both the old and new models and I'm getting notifications as expected. I'd recommend a reboot of your system ~

[grex023]

Ahh... the old turn it off and on again trick! Not sure why I didn't think of that having worked in IT for 20 years. I guess practice what you preach. I did see there was an update this morning so ran that in lieu of a specific reboot and it seems to be OK now.

[lloydbayley]

[balucanb]

@lloydbayley I would like to pull in a the detection data i.e. last hour, today, etc. I think you have detailed that but I would be lying if I said I understood what you said! Would you mind breaking it down to me?

[lloydbayley]

Well, that's marvellous. Thanks for letting me know how it went. I'm glad it's allow flowing nicely. It's it wonderful when a plan comes together! :) All the best.

[ltoolio]

Well, that's marvellous. Thanks for letting me know how it went. I'm glad it's allow flowing nicely. It's it wonderful when a plan comes together! :) All the best.

I really appreciate the detailed instructions you provided. Went from nothing to having a Hass DB my wife can use to see what's happening in the back yard.

[sdaltons1]

Hello @lloydbayley

Thanks for the work on this! I have followed your steps above and nearly everything is working great. The only issue is with the first line. I got errors that a " was missing and that a ) was missing, so I added them to the first line:

var_detect_last_hour=$(sqlite3 $HOME/BirdNET-Pi/scripts/birds.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM detections WHERE Time > Time('now', 'localtime', '-1 hour') AND Date == DATE>")

This change allowed the file to process and sensors started publishing to MQTT. Except for the first one. I get all other data but nothing is published for Detections Last Hour. I assume what I have added is technically valid code but changes the info that is pulled somehow.

Have you run into this at all and/or do you have any suggestions on how to adjust it properly?

[TataGEEK]

Your code (although copied exactly from the original recommendation) is not complete. Try using this:

var_detect_last_hour=$(sqlite3 $HOME/BirdNET-Pi/scripts/birds.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM detections WHERE Time > Time('now', 'localtime', '-1 hour') AND Date == DATE('now', 'localtime', '-1 hour');")

[sdaltons1]

Perfect, thank you!

[grex023]

I'm having a strange issue where when I set the Apprise body and test it works fine, but when I click Update Settings to save it the text disappears. This has been going on for a while. Running the latest update and yes, this time I did turn it off an on again lol. Many times! ANy ideas what might be causing this would be greatly appricated. Running MacOS and tested in Chrome, Safari and more recently Arc

[srd424]

Someone else has reported certain punctuation characters causing problems, could be that? I scanned the code a while back and couldn't see any obvious problems, except, ironically, in the test notification code :)

Might be worth dropping to a terminal and checking that the config file (/etc/birdnet/birdnet.conf or /home/pi/BirdNET-Pi/birdnet.conf) contains what you expect.

[louispires]

Strange thing is happening, my MQTT message seems to come through with an escape character \

This seems to be causing HA to not be able to read the dictionary

[kickbutts]

I have the same Problem. We discussed it here.

[TataGEEK]

I have created a simple automation in Home Assistat that removes the backslash. Here is the YAML code.

alias: BirdNet Apprise 2 JSON
description: "Removes the backslash before the JSON message and republishes the result"
trigger:
  - platform: mqtt
    topic: birdpi/apprise
condition: []
action:
  - service: mqtt.publish
    metadata: {}
    data:
      qos: 0
      retain: false
      topic: birdpi/json
      payload_template: "{{ trigger.payload | replace('\\\\', '') }}"
mode: single

[MeJebus]

Thanks! Now for anyone looking to do the same. I think you have to edit the mqtt sensor in the configuration to:
mqtt:

• sensor:
  • name: "Garden Birds"
    state_topic: "birdpi/json"
    json_attributes_topic: "birdpi/json"
    value_template: "{{ value_json.Common_Name }}"

[djiesr]

I try to save the code in body:
{"Common_Name": "$comname", "Scientific_Name": "$sciname", "Confidence_Score": "$confidence", "link": "$listenurl", "Date": "$date", "Time": "$time", "Week": "$week", "Latitude": "$latitude", "Longitude": "$longitude", "Minimum_Confidence": "$cutoff", "Sigmoid_Sensitivity": "$sens", "Overlap": "$overlap", "Image": "$flickrimage"}
but, after the save, to notification body was empty. Any solution?

[rappazzo]

I have had this same problem I raised an issue for it. There is a workaround if you are comfortable enough to ssh to the box and edit a config file

[sethhere04]

I am getting this error in Home Assistant. Any ideas? I can see everything else is working with the data showing in the logs from mqtt.
`Logger: homeassistant.helpers.template
Source: helpers/template.py:2345
First occurred: 2:36:20 PM (1 occurrences)
Last logged: 2:36:20 PM

Template variable error: 'value_json' is undefined when rendering '{{ value_json.Common_Name }}'`
Logger: homeassistant.components.mqtt.mixins
Source: components/mqtt/mixins.py:544
Integration: MQTT (documentation, issues)
First occurred: 2:36:20 PM (1 occurrences)
Last logged: 2:36:20 PM

Erroneous JSON: {"Common_Name": "Carolina Wren", "Scientific_Name": "Thryothorus ludovicianus", "Confidence_Score": "0.89786017", "link": "http://birdnetpi.local/\?filename=Carolina_Wren-90-2024-03-06-birdnet-14:28:48.mp3", "Date": "2024-03-06", "Time": "14:28:48", "Week": "9", "Latitude": "39.8207", "Longitude": "-82.8191", "Minimum_Confidence": "0.7", "Sigmoid_Sensitivity": "1.25", "Overlap": "0", "Image": "https://live.staticflickr.com/7430/27545810581_8bfa8289a3_c.jpg"\}

[jds11111]

I am getting the same thing. However, it does not complain when using the test button from Tools settings in BNP.
BTW, you probably want to remove your coordinates from this reply.

EDIT: My error log looks a little different:

Erroneous JSON: (first time today) {"Common_Name": "Northern Cardinal", "Scientific_Name": "C . . . 

I am wondering if that "(first time today)" bit is causing problems with JSON, and that it is not used in the test.

EDIT 2: Yeah, that seems to be the problem. From MQTT Explorer, I see that it adds two lines that are not in the test message:

(first time today)
{"Common_Name": "Black-capped Chickadee", "Scientific_Name": "Poecile atricapillus", "Confidence_Score": "0.7429378032684326", "Link": "http://birdnetpi.local?filename=Black-capped_Chickadee-74-2024-03-10-birdnet-12:31:41.mp3", "Date": "2024-03-10", "Time": "12:31:41", "Week": "10", "Latitude": "41", "Longitude": "-87", "Minimum_Confidence": "0.7", "Sigmoid_Sensitivity": "1.25", "Overlap": "0.0", "Image": "https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2924/33349783941_420ca92bb9_n.jpg"} (first time today)

EDIT 3: I think that the fork from nachtzuster has fixed this. https://github.com/Nachtzuster/BirdNET-Pi