The rain on Wednesday was almost exactly the same as radar estimates. It's surprisingly very accurate. Birds tend to perch on objects that are in open areas. This station is close to woods and birds have no reason to land on it....they also sell a bird repelling spike collar, but no need so far. I find moving parts fail on most consumer grade stations.
I don't have a very good yard for wind with all of the trees, so I don't really pay much attention to the wind readings.