I once read an article about "10 things you can do to attract birds to your garden". It turned out that, without any effort, we already had 9 of them! (The missing one was bird houses).

I forget what all they were, but I'll bet most mature gardens have most of them, my garden has the below:

1) LARGE bushes, shrubs, and trees (for nesting and hiding in) - we have plum trees, fig trees, privet trees(berries), eugenie trees (berries), ornamental cherry trees, as well as huge oaks that the large birds like to sit in.
2) Trees, vines, etc. that bear fruit, berries, & seeds.
3) Sources of water (my garden has 4 bird baths, 3 of which are at ground level (we discovered that this stopped the raccoons breaking into our basement - they were not after the cat food, they were after the cat's water! ).
4) Bird feeders (not really necessary if you have all of the above, but makes it more fun to watch).
5) Sheltered spots that are left wild (Ha! I am not lazy, I am practicing gardening for wildlife!)
6) Dead flowers that are left to dry out with their seed pods (see 5 above - great excuse!).

I keep a list of species of birds that I have actually seen in our garden, and it is up to over 70 species!

Regarding non-bird wildlife, despite the fact that we live 3 blocks from the main street of our town, we have deer, raccoons, possums, foxes, squirrels, and sometimes skunks visiting or living in our garden. I love it!

Jackie

I bought a 6-foot dowel rod, 1 1/4 inch diameter, and sawed it in half. Drove it down in the dirt with a rubber mallet so that 2/3 of it was sticking up above the soil. Used a hole saw to cut a 1 3/8 hole in the bottom of 2 plastic birdbaths, and threaded the birdbath pedestal over each. Voila, the only way to keep those cheap things from blowing over in the wind. I painted one with faux stone paint & tiled the rim of the birdbath planter. The other one I painted with electric-blue, metallic, plastic bonding paint. Very pretty, and very stable.

We have hummingbird & regular bird feeders, but that's all. I encourage birds, butterflies, & bees and discourage most other non-human creatures.

I have a plastic bird bath too. I have a small heater for it so I can keep it out year round. I put a large flat stone in it for birds that do not perch. It was supposed to be one of those oil lanterns so the hole in the center was for the wick. It never worked as a lantern but it works great in the bird bath. Holds the heater in place too!
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I also have a wide variety of types of feeders and bird houses. Our subdivision has put up bat and butterfly houses around the common areas too.

One of the things you can do if you're in a cold climate is to leave your perennials standing for the winter, like peonies and such. They provide good shelter for the birds. I never cut anything back now until spring.

Even though I'm in an old suburb of Detroit I'm on the water and we have LOTS of wild life around. Besides the birds there are a ton of squirrels, rabbits and even coyotes. And, unfortunately, the deer keep getting closer and closer. I had a beautiful coopers hawk in my yard too though!
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I can't set out water sources other than the temporary pot saucers under the herbs on the kitchen deck. They attract too many rodents and the blamed coyotes. I do keep some water in the saucers and they birds do make use of it. Nothing is used in the pots which might adversely affect the birds.

No bird feeders! There are more than enough weeds providing seeds for me to add to them, and too many squirrels and rats from Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area. All of those attract snakes and more coyotes. I use no insecticides nor fungicides so there are plenty of bugs, lizards and other "critters" to fuel the food chain. There are larger trees on the property and those provide seeds, more bugs and nesting areas, particularly for the danged squirrels!

Other than those, everything I plant IS for the critters. They help themselves to my rose hips, particularly those I've pimped pollen to create. They love the ones with paper tags on them. Guess they want "menus". They eat the rose bushes themselves and make no pretenses about not liking my tomatoes. I'm lucky I get any! Kim

We had a terrible wildfire come through in 2003, so up in that area of the foothills, where the poor wildlife had nothing much to eat after everything was scorched, I planted grapevines, raspberry vines, and multiple roses known to produce lots of hips. Next to an almost year-round stream, these grew fast and provided lots for the critters to snack on. The grapevines have now reached HUGE heights as I don't prune them, they climb way up into the trees and cascade down. Of course the other plants surrounding them harbor plenty of rattlesnakes, so I am never tempted to sample those grapes! Btw I have sampled some of the rose hips in my home garden, and some are rather tasty.;)

In my yard I have lots of fruit trees, and the birds and squirrels do like some of them. I don't mind as I have plenty. Although some of the squirrels are a bit testy and angry-sounding when I pass below one of *their* trees. They also tend to throw things. Such as the neighbor's avocadoes. This leads to a number of things I didn't plant, sprouting--I now have, of all things, a peanut plant! Thanks, squirrels.;)

I have a number of water sources in the garden, including a couple livestock water troughs (smaller than I use for horses though)--I like them for always being available for my dogs to drink out of (and yes, they sometimes *get in*). I do dump them periodically to dissuade mosquitoes. The dumping gives my plants a drink.

I also have 2 birdbaths, one in the front yard and one in the back. I happened to have a shot which shows one of the birdbaths. I was taking pics of the huge poppies and noticed you can also see the bird bath. Those crazy poppies I had to stake. They came in a box of wildflower seeds--scattered the seeds and these poppies were one of the surprises (gee only 5 feet tall!). Didn't want just a plain birdbath, so I went shopping for a little concrete animal to plunk in the middle for birds to alight and found Sven the duck on etsy. {{gwi:326703}}From Corn poppies and birdbath

Melissa

I feel for you that have coyote problems. I use livestock guardian dogs (Hungarian Kuvasz) to prevent coyote issues. This has worked for me for decades.

Up in the hills where my horses have been kept, there are coyote packs (along with bears, bobcat, fox, and the occasional mountain lion--these last I haven't had any confrontations with thankfully!), but these coyotes are quite timid and afraid of both me and my dogs. My dogs mark my territory, and the coyotes respect it. It is funny though that when I get a new dog, the coyotes invariably test it to see if it will let them get away with anything or fall for one of their tricks (a favorite is to send a decoy coyote in to see if the dog is dumb enough to chase to a secluded area where the whole pack is waiting to attack it--I've known them try this stunt over the years--unfortunately for some of the neighbor's pet dogs who aren't coyote-wise, either death or huge vet bills has resulted). None of my dogs has ever been injured, although once with a juvenile dog, it was close! But the older dog doing the training of the younger put the coyotes in their place.

There is also a habituated pack of coyotes down in the city where my home is located. Being habituated, they are not afraid of people. They are very leery of my dogs however. They generally avoid doing any hunting on my street--as long as I go out with my dogs periodically and reinforce territory, lay down scent trails from my dogs (which the coyotes have tried to challenge unsuccessfully). If I don't keep going out with my dogs, the coyotes will take over the street again. I can't rid them from the city, but I can persuade them to give my street a wide berth. This makes it safer for pets and small children. Interestingly these habituated coyotes are quite clever and never howl at night (whereas those in the foothills do often), they hunt silently. These coyotes have charged me in the past. My dogs let them know this was a bad idea and the coyotes no longer try this on me.

If anyone wants to learn how to deal with coyotes, there is a very good website filled with informative articles. I recommend it and am posting the link. One article I have found particularly informative is "Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem".

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Coyote Bytes download page with lots of articles

I do have some bird items in my yard, but no other wildlife attractors (I have dogs, so that wouldn't be good for the wildlife or them). But here are a couple of pictures of the "bird area" in my front yard...

Hummingbird Feeder
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A Cardinal couple this past winter
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Birdhouse I put up this spring (I just planted Felicia and Edmond Proust under this tree about a month ago. I need to find a couple more shade tolerant roses for the other side)
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My bird bath, two feeders, and finch sock feeders & as you can see, fall is beginning in the Smoky Mtns! (some of my baby roses are in the ground, although too small to see in this pic)
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I have a bird bath but that is it. It is in the middle of a large open lawn because...

Our inconsiderate neighbors let their cats roam around and the one is a bird-killer #1. So I feel very uncomfortable with doing anything to purposely lure birds into our yard. I chase that cat out every chance I get but it keeps coming back.:(

We do have a lot of bushes and stuff that birds like though.

We have tons of animals, so we must be doing something right. I'm not even counting the rat that we found in our shed that was eating my cotton seed meal.

I have a hill in the yard that we let go 'natural'. Basically we planted pine trees and just let it go. I do have one spot in the front that is a dedicated butterfly garden.

We usually have at least 3-4 birds nests, in the roses, underneath the deck and in the trees. We also get a lot of migratory birds. We have a few feeders and a few bird baths. We also go all out for the hummingbirds, they are my husband's favorite. I love sitting outside and watching them buzz around.

I appreciate all the tips you have given, thank you all.
Birds are attracted to bright colors (that's why they like my bright white plastic one). One time my kid and I were inside the house by a big window. We were painting her bird house bright red, with rainbow colors in the front. The hummingbird got excited, dashed down, and smacked himself on the glass window.

I like the tips of bird bath on the ground. Hopefully that would stop the rabbits from eating roses for water. Hoovb, when you install your bat house, please let me know how it goes, thanks. I'm trying to convince my hubby to get one - but he thinks it has to be really high, like on top of a tree.

More than a decade ago, I saw blue jays in Michigan. I have never seen one in Illinois. If you know of any bird house that attracts blue jays, please let me know. Thanks.

Dunno about bird houses, but we finally had a bluejay visit this year. I didn't do anything special to attract him.

I was also awoken at 3 am about a month ago by an owl. Scared the living daylights out of me.

Apparently the deer think I have planted everything for them. lol!! Roses, daylilies, hosta, phlox, and so on. Need I say more!! Just playing but they are so tremendously irritating. I have two fountains that the birds absolutely love and I love watching them play in them. Several feeders and several houses plus lots of evergreen plants and shrubs for them to nest in or take refuge in. I have all kinds of wildlife running around everywhere!! Judy

We have lots of blue jays (common jays and stellar's Jays), and my brother gave me a good tip about attracting them - they LOVE peanuts! I put the peanuts in a cup up on a rose folly, which seems to be difficult for the crows to get at, but not the blue jays. They perch around it every morning waiting for me to put the peanuts in it.

For several years there have been bluejay nests in our garden - mostly in large large bushes. Last year there was one inside of the immense (10 ft high by 15-20 feet wide and deep) barberry bush. I finally saw the babies and the nest, following the babies funny loud squawking cries. Then the parents saw me, and I had to retreat.

Jackie

Thanks Jackie, for that tip on blue jays liking peanuts. What is a rose folly? I found some interesting info. about bat and birds dropping. Rabies are thought associated to bats only, but cattle (esp. cows) represent 5% to 11% of rabies cases since 2004. Here's the info:

Worldwide, bats are predators of vast numbers of insect pests, saving farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually and helping to control insect-spread human diseases, like West Nile virus.

Although bats play key roles in keeping insect populations in balance, they are North America's most rapidly declining land mammals. Bats give one or two off springs per year. Wild animals accounted for 93 percent of reported cases of rabies in 2001. The wild animals in which infection was reported included:

Raccoons -- 37.2 percent of all animal cases during 2001
Skunks -- 30.7 percent
Bats -- 17.2 percent
Foxes -- 5.9 percent
Other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (e.g., rabbits and hares) -- 0.7 percent.

Fresh bat droppings (unlike fresh bird dropping) can contain the histoplasmosis fungus. Bat droppings do not need to come into contact with soil to be a source of the disease.
Histoplasmosis is caused by a fungus found primarily in the areas drained by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The disease is transmitted to humans by airborne fungus spores from soil contaminated by pigeon and starling droppings (as well as from the droppings of other birds and bats). The soil under a roost usually has to have been enriched by droppings for two years or more for the disease organism to reach significant levels. Infection occurs when spores, carried by the air are inhaled especially after a roost has been disturbed. Most infections are mild and produce either no symptoms or a minor influenza- like illness. On occasion, the disease can cause high fever, blood abnormalities, pneumonia and even death. In some areas, including portions of Illinois, up to 80 percent of the population show evidence of previous infection. Outbreaks of histoplasmosis have occurred in Central Illinois.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reported a potentially blinding eye condition presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (OHS) that probably results from the fungus. NIH estimates that 4 percent of those exposed to the disease are at risk of developing OHS.

The Centers for Disease Control publishes a report every year called "Rabies surveillance in the United States during" followed by the year of the report. The most recent one, for 2010 has just been released. I tend to read them every year as I frequent a wildlife area and want to know about rabies activity especially. I also check the rabies page on the website of the California Dept of Health, here: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Pages/rabies.aspx. It includes data on what animals were tested positive for rabies and in which counties. Archival info on back years is available too.

I also read various pages on the website of the Los Angeles County (where I live) Dept of Public Health, Veterinary Public Health as it lists current outbreaks in animals, http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet/. There has been a recent one of distemper in wildlife (all my dogs are vaccinated for it thankfully) which was reported on their website. Also I pay particular attention to the rabies situation (my dogs are vaccinated for it but *I* am not). There is currently a rabies outbreak in Los Angeles County in bats, see here for map:
http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet/rabiesmap2010.htm

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2010

A seasonal creek runs along the bottom edge of my property and I let mother nature grow whatever she wants along it and up the hillside beyond it. There are all manner of native shrubs, trees, weeds, grasses. In addition to roses with hips, I grow a lot of herbs like lavender that attract bees, and hummingbird and butterfly flowers. I have two very small ponds that are home to frogs and turtles and provide water for larger critters. I also have four bird baths. Water, habitat and food. I don't put up bird houses and I feed the birds only in winter.

FYI: Only 20% of cats have any birding skill. Of my 12 cats, one is very good, 2 are adequate and the rest can't be bothered. Last year all together, they killed 37 birds. One is very into chipmunks and since chipmunks eat rose roots, I don't discourage him. It is cats' job to cull birds to keep bird populations healthy and robust. The problem is not that cats kill birds, but that people do not neuter their cats, so there are too many cats.

Also FYI on rabies, etc. Unless you are on a farm or have a very isolated, private garden, most wild mammals will only come to your garden at night, either because they are naturally nocturnal or they are people shy. One should be informed about rabies and other possible zoonotics, but not paranoid. You will catch a car accident long before you catch a disease from a wild animal.

Thank you, Tessie and Catrose for excellent info. You are right, Catrose, about we are more likely to suffer in a car accident than catching rabies from wild animal. I checked out Tessie's link for rabies in 2010, here's the info: "During 2010, 48 states and Puerto Rico reported 6,154 rabid animals and 2 human rabies cases to the CDC, representing an 8% decrease from the 6,690 rabid animals and 4 human cases reported in 2009."

Only 2 human rabies cases! That's much less than the hundreds of West Nile virus cases from mosquito bites reported. We still need bats for insect control, and saving farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually.

Yes, it's true that getting rabies from a wild animal is rare. However it is not true that wild animals are all strictly nocturnal. In towns and cities they get very habituated to people's presence, and of dogs too, and will wander about in broad daylight, especially when populations are high. Racoons particularly are not at all shy, and can be pretty dangerous. They're big, smart, strong, and not afraid of people or most dogs. Ditto coyotes. I've seen a family of 5 coons on my neighbor's front porch, in the middle of the day, chowing down on the cat food she leaves out for her always-outdoor cat. Coons wander my neighborhood freely (except for my yard - I have coon-aggressive dogs). I've also seen deer and coyotes in broad daylight, and rats, and once a fox. In town. Not sick either, just habituated to people.

Cats killing birds is a problem. Too many cats is also a problem. Bird populations are declining, and outdoor cats are part of the reason. They're implicated in declines in frog/toad and lizard populations too. And they catch butterflies. Don't be in denial. Most of my friends who have cats are very responsible, their cats are neutered and kept indoors. One lets his cat out for brief periods under supervision, but she has to wear this special jacket that constricts her movements so she's thrown off balance when she jumps - can't catch anything that way. Belling works too.

In my yard I have multiple bird baths. I favor concrete ones myself, I've never heard of plastic holding up better in the wind than concrete does. We get hurricane-force winds every winter, 60+mph here in town. Birds want shallow water on a rough surface so they don't slip. My dogs keep the neighborhood cats out of the yard. Cats are not dumb! they only have to be chased out once and they never come back. The dogs are not interested in the birds, but they do chase the squirrels, which are all the non-native kind. I also have feeders, as well as shrubs and trees. I feed sunflower seeds, suet, and niger, with a hummingbird feeder seasonally.