Infomercialism: My Spy Birdhouse

[@JamiJR]

I wonder how many birds have died when those suction cups fail and the birdhouse goes crashing to the ground.

[@AGuyNamedSteve1]

I don't even want to imagine that

[@HORRIOR1]

This is the first time I say this but... someone call PETA on this shit.

[@ZeroSpawn47]

None, because no bird would ever nest in this piece of crap.

[@vampirica89]

+HORRIOR Please don't call PETA - they actually kill animals. Look it up.

[@HORRIOR1]

Scattered Moon Shards I know but even they don't kill as many animals as this thing :/ (at same % rate that is)

[@ArtemyMusha]

"Apparently you can see them just fine when you have binoculars" But Mike! Don't you remember? Binoculars are super-heavy, making them bad for stuff you might also need them for, like reading and watching tv! This is why we should've purchased stock in Zoomies!

[@spindalis79]

Next up: Mike buys an infomercial Hummingbird feeder. Result: He attracts no hummingbirds. This is not due to a shitty product, but due to the fact there are no Hummingbirds in Europe.

[@Mohegan13]

Did you really try and stick the bastard to a door? I'm sure that wouldn't freak the shit out of the birds every time you opened it... you know if it stuck on and attracted birds.

[@whiterabbit75]

I was thinking the same thing. I thought he was going to put it on the window next to it, which is almost as bad, but geez. Come on, Mike. Use _some_ common sense.

[@TreClaire]

I'm going to try and give Mike the benefit of the doubt and assume that's a door they don't use. lo

[@dedpxl]

Yeah I guess it's for the better that it didn't work. What a dumbass though seriously.

[@carlost856]

It looks like it's a window besides the door.

[@katierose8238]

Blue Dragon There's a birds nest on the reef hanging from our door.

[@Ninjamohawk]

That's really disappointing. The idea of watching birds in a birdhouse over time is brilliant, but the product is a joke. If someone were to take the idea upmarket and create a really high-quality version, aim it specifically at bird watchers, I think they'd have a hit.

[@10191927]

I know this comment is two years old. But you raise a good point, the problem is that the materials needed to make a durable outdoor nest like that would probably be very expensive and probability be too costly to produce, afterall it has to stick to glass(for years presumably), and support a nest of birds without falling off. So you’re almost better off making one yourself.

[@alexe8375]

Did you try applying cheese to the suction cups?

[@foxy3653]

Maybe that will work.

[@Qaosbringer]

cheese solves everything!

[@graciegj63]

Double sided tape perhaps?

[@Pehmokettu]

He should have used grated cheese to attract the birds.

[@ctarsund]

alex E 😃it didn't work because it wasn't made out of cheese.

[@DavidRobertsonUK]

Not really sure why they used the semi-mirror film. For it to work properly there needs to be a difference in light levels on each side - from the bright side, it looks like a mirror, and from the dark side it looks more or less transparent. So given that the inside of the birdhouse is gonna be a lot darker than your room, I can't imagine why they thought it'd be a good idea.

[@arronshutt]

You'd be better off putting a remote controlled camera in it, putting it on a tree and spying on humans undressing in your neighbours house like a proper pervert.

[@GamesFromSpace]

I assumed that's what this product was. Some sort of (shitty) security camera.

[@graciegj63]

+Joshua Pearce Yea I'm pretty sure that's what it's for since it's made of plastic. I'm all like, no bird's going to want to go in that. He could use it as a fake bird's nest with a stuffed bird in it.

[@helenanilsson5666]

Bit of a difference between bees and bumblebees mate. Honey bees are the small and stinger-y ones. Bumblebees are balls of black and yellow fluff kind of wobbling through the air. Honey bees have that name because they produce a lot of honey, enough that a bee farmer can take out the extra that the bees don't need to survive. Bumblebees store nectar instead, and it's a very small amount compared to honey bees. However, bumblebees are much cuter and are excellent pollinators.

[@isawadelapradera6490]

Helena Nilsson Also, don't forget that Bumblebees make great mexican slapstick comedy actors. Ay ay ay, no es bueno.

[@NovaeMemoriae]

Dear Mike, I was the bird that appeared at 00:11, give me 50%

[@Mohegan13]

Don't lie. You're clearly a cat.

[@evilcow2114]

buy you'r clearly a cat!

[@whiterabbit75]

Yeah, don't lie. That bird was clearly me.

[@evilcow2114]

whiterabbit75 But, but, you'r clearly a rabbit!

[@whiterabbit75]

evilcow 21 That's speciesist!

[@DarthFennec]

I don't understand how the one-way glass is supposed to work ... when you have a one-way glass/mirror, the side that gets much more light than the other ends up being the side that's reflective/dark, and the other side (which usually has very little in terms of a light source) is the side you can see through from. So with this birdhouse, since the inside of your house will generally be well-lit and the inside of the birdhouse will generally be very dark, it ends up that the birds will be able to see you much more clearly than you can see them. It ends up having the opposite of the intended effect.

[@rachelmarieLMT]

it's totally wood in the commercial, that's kinda fucked up for it to actually be plastic.

[@RichardServello]

The reason it's meant to be on your windows is because the way 2-way glass works is...the mirror side needs to be the lighter side. Having it outside makes the outside part brighter than the inside so it defeats the entire point. Next time wet the suction cups to get them to stick better. Put in on the window as designed to make the 2-way glass work properly...and ADD BIRD SEED INTO IT!!!!

[@JamiJR]

He DID wet the suction cups first.

[@Glimmerling]

It's a bird house not a bird feeder... They wouldn't want food all over their bed.

[@Nasuth]

Am I the only one who hoped he'd break the glass while trying to put up the house like he did with his oven?

[@MrSchimpf]

Had this for one month myself and not a bird has even dared to come and check out the premises of this birdhouse (followed all the directions and got a better stock of suction cups which actually sticks to the window than you did, obviously). It makes a better decoration than as a functional product.

[@MyssBlewm]

My mom got this for my little sister, and it hung on the living room window for weeks with no birds coming to use it. It eventually fell off one windy day and then my dad threw it away.

[@spindalis79]

You know your product is bad when House Sparrows won't even investigate it.

[@angrybidoof847]

Don't we have enough trouble with birds crashing in to windows with out encouraging them?

[@Shadowstorm612]

I have one of these attached to my garage window and there are birds nesting in there....have for at least five years

[@culwin]

You probably didn't screw it all up like he did. You didn't put it on a door for one thing.

[@Tarantel666]

Video or it didn't happen. ;)

[@Shadowstorm612]

Hmmm I can do that

[@c0mpu73rguy]

Does it hold up?

[@Shadowstorm612]

+c0mpu73rguy I was watching a little finch go in and out this morning while sitting in the garage...it's all about placement

[@BfDelano]

The first thing I said when I saw the commercials for this product was "The birds are going to nest, and then the whole thing is going to fall off the window and kill the birds".

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Ashens got one of these, and within five minutes Guru Larry was living in it!

[@urcle3704]

Why would you put it on a door.

[@whiterabbit75]

Because he's Mike.

[@vanityvry]

I very nearly spewed coffee all over my screen at the District 9 reference.

[@an2qzavok]

One sided mirrors work on brightness balance. They act as mirrors in bright rooms and as window in dark room. Since small birdhouse will always be darker than human dwelling with LARGE GLASS WINDOW, this thing was doomed from the concept.

[@ThAlEdison]

I believe the bird watching is supposed to take place during the daytime, when the sun coming in through the opening can overpower the electric/ambient light coming from the room. But at night... But yes, it doesn't really matter which way the glass was, it's the light balance that matters. So when it was in the garden, it would be expected to work opposite, since the inside of the birdhouse is the darker side unless it's up against something.

[@helenanilsson5666]

Even if you lived in a house without any interior lights at all, the room would still be flooded with light from the outside unless the room had only the one window and that one window was just large enough to hold the birdhouse with little to no empty glass to let light into the room. So really, for most people it would make little difference if the bird house was attached to a window or standing on its lonesome regardless of light balance.

[@Toralian89]

Yeah, Mike, right on the door - birds will love it.

[@TheEmeraldWeirdo]

1:02 Yeah, until the suction cups give out and it FALLS OFF THE WINDOW. And another thing: Why is the one-way mirror a film you have to apply instead of, you know, A PRE-ASSEMBLED ONE WAY MIRROR?!

[@fdk7014]

Who else was expecting Mike to break the windowpane?

[@yz4043]

"Don't talk to me for a second because I have to concentrate" lmao pretty sure you're talking to us!!!

[@killermandarine]

To the question if birds can see you: Yes, they can This reflective foil follows the same principle as those identifying rooms at a police sations, those with the see through mirrors. The trick is: The room with the witness is very dark and the room with the potential criminals is very bright, so that the foil reflects all the light and the witness stays unidentified. So, as long as your birdhouse does not have tits own nightlight, they will be living in a dark little birdhouse while you live in a bright lighted home. They'll be able to safely watch you, while you wonder what may happen behind your window.

[@Skreezilla]

I love the one way glass... the way it works is you sit in a dark room, the other sits in a light room, the light room can't see the dark but the dark can see the light. the whole fucking thing lets birds watch you

[@Yenastuundepaspris55]

Something I just thought... Aren't clear windows, like, ''bird killers'' you know ? Seems like it might be a bad idea to set a bird-house in the middle of a window.

[@dominopicamation5836]

This wouldn’t even work where I live because there are no bird species that are small enough. A pet budgie might like it though

[@theweddingsinger1970]

Is it really a good idea to attract birds to near your windows, I'm thinking of bird poop at best, bird fatalities and expensive window replacement at worst

[@TheMonkeyThatDoesYourJobBetter]

I knew a friend who got his hands on this product. He tried hanging it up on his bedroom window on the second floor, but the piece of sh*t bit the dust on the concrete below because the suction cups did nothing to hold it in place. He ended up buying another one and securing it another way. 4 years later, no birds what so ever. It was a total waste of money.

[@sagesaria]

Come to think of it, if the one-way glass works as it's supposed to, wouldn't THAT detract birds since they'd be seeing their reflection in the glass and thinking it's another bird?

[@tyklink]

With your luck, I was thoroughly expecting a wasp's nest to be inside it.

[@FreezeDriedGirolles]

I wonder at what stage in production they realised that a one-way mirror only works if it's darker on the side you want to look through from.

[@tobywenman4769]

That reflective glass works by having one side of the glass darker than the other just like how people can see in when it's night and you have your house's lights on. Same concept but it exaggerates it so holding it up in a room won't do anything.

[@yeee1227]

"Oh look, they're dead" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SigEpBlue]

"Don't talk to me for a moment, I need to concentrate." This is when I started yelling at my monitor. :)

[@lShishkaBerryl]

Oh god, are you one of those people who pay other people to put screen protectors on your phone? YOU NEVER TAKE ALL THE BACKING OFF AT ONCE!!!!!

[@patriotwhitewash7985]

They do it for free in many stores once you buy it

[@bytesabre]

Take all the backing off, put a few drops of water with a little washing up liquid in the middle of the screen to lubricate it, put the protector on, slide it around till it's perfect, then push the water, air, and stuff out with a credit cart. Simples.

[@BarHonigfeld]

seriously. I never used a screen protector. The phone I now use for almost 6 years (damn) has no scratches.

[@patriotwhitewash7985]

+Bär Honigfeld Yeah they've become almost pointless now. Tempered glass is the new thing although I'm not sure how shatter-able the actual glass on today's phones are.

[@ArcNeoMasato]

That 1 way mirror stuff always can be seen through both ways in that situation. It relies on one side being darker than the other to really do it's job.

[@culwin]

I'm that kid in the ad. I demand 110% of the revenue from this video, Mike.

[@pokegirl302]

the suction cups actually work worse than I expected and I thought that they would barely work

[@whewchile2451]

You didn't even wet the suction cups

[@zestysuizome6406]

Two way mirrors are a simple science, for it to work, one side has to have less light than the other. Basically if you place on the window in a dark room towards a bright light source, the birds shouldn't be able to see you. I don't know if that mirror with flimsy shiny plastic follows that logic though. Personally, I don't even know if bird would perch in a thing that looks like it's already been taken by another bird (anyone know how well birds are with reflections of themselves? Can they identify themselves? I know that young dogs can't so that why I'm wondering about it).

[@B3tanTyronne]

I imagine placing the nest on the window of a door would not exactly help matters - that is unless you are planning not to use the door for the whole of spring.

[@lividsphincter4098]

That one way mirror needs a strong light on the side that the birds are and a dim light where you are for the birds to be able to not see you.

[@MollyAnnMissie]

1) Yeah, I've seen that commercial and my first thought was "You're going to have dead birds, including babies, on your hands if they build a nest and the damn suctions fail."2) My aunt has a covered porch and the birds love the corners; They have perfect little bowls for the nests to be built. If you go to her house in May, you can watch them building the nests and, ahem, doing what birds in spring do. (Haven't caught any bees at it, though.) If you go to her house in August, you can see the baby birds and they are the cutest things. 3) Critter cameras are all the rage, now. That would be infinitely better than a cheap infomercial product.

[@knugenavswarje734]

Honestly, when I saw the ad for one of these things I thought it was fucking genius. I'm very disappointed that this product turned out to be so shitty, I think it would be amazing to see the inside of a bird house all year and see what happens. It's one of those things that I have been curious about and to see it in action, right in front of you would be awesome.

[@dylandreisbach1986]

I have had this product for almost a year. We didn't put the mirror on, but we still haven't seen a single bird nest. Also, are birds territorial? I thought that they wouldn't like seeing another bird in there nest. Since they don't know what a reflection is, they would probably assume that spot is taken and fly away. And they don't like to be around humans, so this would probably never work.

[@Shilorius]

If you want (cheap) suction cups to work, you have to clean the window first. .. But, afaik, after 1-2 days the Birdhouse will drop anyway...

[@papersamurai00]

Jeeze, I'd be terrified to even hang that on GOOD suction cups. Even good ones aren't that good. Though I AM thinking about larger birds like blue-jays and such...

[@shazpantz0007]

do You Mean Blue Tits? Are You American?

[@laurelanne5071]

@@shazpantz0007 They're American, our blue jay is a larger bird related to crows and not at all like the European blue tit.

[@laurelanne5071]

Most of the birds that would use this type of box to begin with are quite small. They showed chickadees, wrens, and downy woodpeckers which are all tiny. Yeah, jays are way too boisterous for this type of thing.

[@Jack-li2ci]

The ‘oh look, their dead’ really got me 😂

[@anomalousclouds]

Thank you Michael for saving me from possibly wasting money on this. I hope you find a good birdhouse one day. If you're ever in NYC, let me show you how the geese can attack humans.

[@Awakeandalive1]

Worms love to watch birds because watching them keeps worms alive! Also, ever since I first saw this commercial I have been convinced it was invented by someone who deeply, deeply loathes birds. It's a death trap!

[@WobblesandBean]

I think Mike put the mirrored surface on the wrong side...

[@excelatrate]

It's a one way mirror idiot."wrong side" doesn't apply. Ever see those FBI shows with interrogation rooms? Ever notice the rooms with the observers are almost pitch black and the interrogation room is always very bright?

[@stryletz]

Which only further emphasises what a piece of crap this product is, because birdhouses don't have running lights in them and no room in a house is pitch black 24/7.

[@excelatrate]

Matthew Stryletz Not defending the product, it's shit.

[@kieira]

I was so sure he was going to break the glass, geez, how scary.

[@charlestownsend9280]

when he was showing both sides of the one way window, who else was reminded of being at the opticions

[@aljr357]

I didn't expect the suction cups to work at all. I'm hoping you'll be showing us some birds. Lol I didn't think it would work. You'll have to put a different back on it if you want to try and have a bird house from it.

[@wyrmoffastring]

My cat would have a field day with that... and I'd get zero sleep with her tapping on the window trying to get to the birds all night.

[@blapis-blazuli]

Even if this did work as intended, I remember hearing about a time when one of our neighbors found out that the crows in the area wound up killing the baby birds inside the birdhouses he made, so... I don't think I'd be able to deal with that. :( Imagining the amount of bird poop that any bird/s who'd use it would make also doesn't make it appealing.

[@falloutgal6512]

did you wash the window before trying to stick it to the glass?

[@SigEpBlue]

Call me a Doubting Thomas, but I don't think ANY bird is going to use a *plastic* birdhouse. Cheap bastards, whoever made that.

[@rjaxxxas]

I 'd never see the day when I was this early on a video. But anyway I have a request. Mike, Could you do a 'Week On Canned Food'?

[@patriotwhitewash7985]

Would be cool but that's pretty much what his week on Iceland's food was

[@PsylomeAlpha]

I thought you said "a week on cat food."

[@dimsumboy22]

is this a re-upload? I feel like i've seen this before

[@ShotgunDiplomacy]

He is talking about the Brexit referendum, which was five days ago, so...

[@ShotgunDiplomacy]

Well, make sure you check the vid from the 8:02 mark. He mentions it's June and references Britian's mood after the referendum.

[@GreebleClown]

do wild birds actually use birdhouses? I've never seen them in one around here...

[@alphazero924]

Mike, I don't think you understand how one-way glass works. It's not actually magically capable of blocking light from one direction and not the other. The way it works is that it reflects enough light so that if the room behind the glass is darker than the current room then you can only see the room you're currently in. If both sides are equally lit like when you're holding it up in front of a camera in your dining room, or if the room behind it is more brightly lit like when you're looking into a birdhouse at the sunny yard beyond, you're going to be able to see right through it.

[@heidifedor]

I’d be afraid that the suction cups would evenly fail, and it would fall and kill the birds.

[@ObsidianStray]

You're going to have to redo this one next spring, man. Why would birds show up when you didn't even put cheese in it?

[@frauleinmona]

Mike, perhaps you put the piece of glass in backwards and thats why from the birds view you can see everything. You need to flip the glass.

[@Guilmon470]

Noooo. ;~; All of the horror stories with the suction cups giving out murdering countless families. Also, we have a birdhouse in our yard with a front porch and railings on it. XD Our birds are apparently scoffing as well.

[@DrForrester2001]

That's my biggest concern with this, I've never owned anything that used suction cups that wouldn't eventually fall off after a while. Especially on a hot day.

[@PsylomeAlpha]

there's an old outdoor thermometer on our media room window that never falls off. it's also never all that accurate.

[@kirstyhunt4295]

I seriously think you would be better off making your own bird house and just leave the back wall missing

[@markiangooley]

Double-sided tape (or Velcro tape) might have held it in place -- but they should have included that instead of the suction cups. Also, if the suction cups were that hard to attach to the birdhouse, they might have gotten damaged during that -- not that I'd have trusted them anyway.

[@bruixeria]

Double sided tape is definitely not the answer. Between the heat of the sun and rain it would give out pretty quick.

[@saraha180]

One way glass is not directional: the people on the darker side can see through and the people on the brighter side see a mirror. Classically there are no materials that transmit light in one way but not the other. (With some asterisks, this is actually prohibited by the second law of thermodynamics as it would allow you to create Maxwell's demon.) There are some ideas for specific types of one-way passive light transmission, but they're rather exotic and not available for something like a one-way mirror.

[@SamLovesMovies25]

Yeah, I wouldn't think that birds would want to make a nest in a house that's on your window lol. A local bird food supply store near us did something that works much better: they had a bird house outside on a tree, and they put a little camera in it. They then wired the camera up to a screen in the store, and that works well because then the house is in a better spot so birds actually want to build nests there and we really can watch the birds without disturbing them. I imagine it took some work to set it all up though lol

[@TheBokkelul]

haha a two way mirror... there's no light in the little birdhouse so that makes it even easier to watch through it XD

[@TraxelAxel]

Probably should've put it on a window and not a door as everytime you open the door the birds are going to think there is an earthquake going on

[@the_soup2284]

I want to put one on my cat's favorite window.

[@Vuzeo]

Birds won't get in it because it's too close to ground level Carl Pilkington!

[@vonSarno]

Cheese and willies!!! Good to see you back in action Mike keep the good work coming

[@tscream80]

I'm sure if I tried this thing, and any small bird was brave enough to try it out, the end result would be one or both of my cats endlessly pawing at the other side of the window trying to get at them. :/

[@VideoGameVillians]

There is something else you could try if it doesn't stick to the glass right, I'm not saying you should super glue it, but you could...

[@recyclingeyes]

need to clean the glass with rubbing alcohol to cut the natural debris that forms on the glass... then the suction cups will stay... have used feeders on windows before and it worked

[@amandaknox6344]

I think you put the glass in backwards

[@WakoDoodle]

Birds aren't stupid, just desperate. All birds (even pidgeons, though their reaction is lower) can see what's obviously a see-through window. The reason some might "might" enter a house is because it's hard to find a home for your eggs. Nests need managed twigs and a good spot to settle; a house that isn't affect by weather is a miracle. That's why they use birdhouses. What they don't want are perverts. :/

[@LegalHighsVids]

clearly got the one sided suff on the wrong way lol

[@Undying3001]

Little known fact, when it's June in North America it's February in the UK.

[@RichardWatt]

BBC Bristol have been filming birds in nest boxes for 30+ years!

[@TnT_F0X]

the one way mirror thing works cause it's darker on one side than the other, thats why you see in tv shows cops accidentally turning the light on in the other side of the mirror Also... what is the benefit of not having the one sided mirror pre-attached... bubbles?

[@retcon1991]

Isn't that one way glass the wrong way round? At the end he tried to look in and scoffed that it was just a reflection. Then he looked through the hole and could see right through it.

[@emilinrose]

If you can see through the inside of the birdhouse hole, but not through the back, then maybe, just maybe, YOU PUT IT THE WRONG WAY AROUND.

[@Tazzie1312]

If you get a little moisture on a suction cup, it sticks much better. (I'm not gonna say lick the birdhouse... but you know.)

[@SkorpyoTFC]

Instant, nihilistic depression. Best way to start a video.

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

WATCH, as Sassy the neighborhood cat gets into the birdhouse and devours the entire bird family, including the chicks, as the display is viewed by all eyes in you family and the remains are left splattered upon the window glass!

[@AvidSonicFan]

If you want a birdhouse you can see into, just make one of wood, and make the back wall of glass, and then just hang it in a location and in a way that can make you see into it anyway! Who would ever need suction cups for this kind of concept anyway?!

[@spindalis79]

These have actually been around for years. The one I had was actually made of wood, and had much better suction cups. A male House Wren built a dummy nest in it, but the female chose not to use it. A similar phenomenon to the "spy birdhouse" happened when a pair of Carolina Wrens decided to build in the flower box next to the kitchen window. They successfully produced four fledglings.

[@harmattan0]

Plastic and glass aside no bird will set their nest so low, in the reach of ground predators.

[@Roshkin]

so window dirt probably didn't let it stick, one way glass is visible from the darker location, and I can critique better when I'm not the one making videos.

[@ursor234]

when my folks and i saw this first advertised we all thought the same things. first was how a snake would wind up inside it with 3-4 lumps in it's gut. the second was how god awful the window would get. i like seeing how the product in the commercial was wood and the product being sold is plastic. i also dont remember once seeing that film for a mirror in the commercial too... last i checked birds hate mirrors- or rather they see another bird and will normally attack it? atleast i think... anyway, thanks for showing uf how fail this thing is, sorry you wont have any birds to watch tho.

[@bruixeria]

In the general sense birds enjoy mirrors. They will sing to the handsome bird checking them out. But I don't know how they feel about mirrors in their actual nests. I imagine they probably wouldn't like it and would just leave.

[@quas392]

wait wasn't there a law prohibiting seeing birds breed?

[@c0mpu73rguy]

Please, tell me nobody bought this. There's no way this thing can hold with these little suction cups and birds will certainly be disturbed if they see people moving. EDIT: Well, what did I expected, of course it don't hold up. Now I'm scared for the birds living inside these things. If there are no screws, I'm not buying it.