Faucet1, you nailed it with the description of the generator running and the engine running and not charging the batteries unless you pressed the aux start button.
That is exactly how the BIRD is designed. The device has a generator input connection and if the ignition is on the BIRD is disabled. Kind of a strange design and I just learned this a month ago on my 08 model.
I discovered the issue by accident. My BIRD was a small circuit board mounted in the front run bay. Yours is probably different and I will get the picture for you. It may be in the links I provided before.
So your bird module is either bad or the connections need to be exercised.
