Wildlife Camera Upgradation?

I currently shoot wildlife, mainly birds using my Nikon D5300 w/d Nikon 200-500mm F5.6E. I'm satified with the results. But the problem I'm facing now is that my camera s autofocus & lack of controls to change settings. I'm considering Nikon D7200 or Nikon D500. I'm not going to sell my exisiting body though, but anyone can help me with this?

I have done a lot of shooting animals in their natural environments and I have learned a few things which may help

The low light performance and auto focus system on the D500 makes it well worth the extra $900 over the D7200.

Why?

The D500 auto focus works amazingly well in low light, the kind of light where most animals out grazing and watering (dawn and dusk) Thisy camera was designed for sports photographer who have to have absolute, dead on autofocus indoors or under the lights. I can tell you from experience, that the D500's auto focus really blew me a way. With all the hype, I was skeptical and once I had used the rented D500, I ordered one for myself

I do not understand what is lacking in controls with your D5300 that a D7200 or D500 has.

They all have fully adjustable shutter speeds, lens apertures and ISO values. Yes the D7200 and D500 both have interval timers and built-in Wi-Fi (the D500 also has Bluetooth), but as far as actual controls, you will have to tell us what is lacking in your D5300

Visit DP Review and compare the D7200 and D500 and then read the professional reviews on both cameras. After you have done that and still do not have a clear idea which to buy, rent one of each over a weekend and do a "boots on the ground' evaluation.

You have an amazing lens for shooting wildlife. I learned using a 35 mm camera and a 300 mm f/2.8 lens.

I worked for an animal theme park and they sent me out with a bow hunter just before hunting season and she taught me how to identify various animals based on the animals scat we found and how to build improvised blinds once we found the animals grazing areas

The most important two things are learning the habits of the animal you wish to photography and a whole lot of patience.

Actually, they have an app for that (I know, you're not surprised). You can take control of your DSLR, yes the D5300 from a distance of about 300 feet (about the distance of a football field) and probably with line of sight. There may be several competitors, but this looked like a good one.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/...slr-camera

Upgradationination to D500 is betterer.