I used to have bird feeders, but not since we have had an active population of black bears. While I like having them around, I don't want to train them to think that our house = food. Although the bears hibernate, they are awake before there are many food sources for seed eaters, and I hate to habituate the birds to my feeders and then have to remove them in early spring. I do want to put out a heated bird bath for winter, though, and may try a suet feeder since about the time I would have to bring in the feeder due to the bears waking up, there would be insects available for the suet eaters. We do have a lot of birds, but they don't spend as much time near the house as they would if we had feeders. I do plant for the birds and often have nests in shrubs near the house, seed eating birds on plants where I've let the seed heads stand, and insect eaters in the shrubbery. Purple martins eat flying bugs, so that is one of the reasons folks put up houses for them. Since you plan to put up bird houses, read up about the requirements for a house that the birds will use, the preferred size openings for different birds, and how best to site them since different types of birds look for different set-ups. Here's some general information on bird houses from the National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Gardening-Tips/Attracting-Nesting-Birds.aspx The link below is from Cornell University Lab of Ornithology's Project Nest Watch. If you go to the LEARN tab in the upper right part of the page, there are various articles about bird houses and landscaping for bird habitat that you may find useful. Until you have more shrubs or small trees near your feeders for landing spots, you can put a lage tree branch or old Christmas tree in a pot and fill the pot with rocks or gravel to hold it in place. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell's Project Nest Watch

There is no surefire way to keep birdseed from sprouting. Some people sterilize bird seed by heating it on a cookie sheet in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes, but that is a lot of work to do on a consistent basis. Some people rake up the spilled seed once or twice a week with a Shop Vac. You can buy the sunflower chips (shelled, broken sunflower seeds) and they won't sprout because they have been "damaged" by being broken. They are more expensive than mixed birdseed, but there is no waste. You can rake the area under the feeder once or twice a week to break up the sprouts before they are well rooted. Sometimes ground-feeding birds eat the seed spilled onto the ground before it sprouts--it just depends on how many ground-feeding birds you have hanging around your yard. At our house, birdseed and hen scratch don't get a chance to sprout because the doves (and cottontail rabbits) eat it all. There are many plants you can incorporate into your plantings to attract birds. Many of them will attract butterflies and hummingbirds as well. TREES: Trees like oaks, cedars, elms and hackberrie provide food, cover and nesting sites for birds. NATIVE PLANTS are the ones that most attract birds since these are plants they already use as a food source. These include trees, shrubs and vines like junipers, yaupon hollies, possumhaw hollies, viburnums, Mexican plums, rough-leaf dogwood, elderberries, sumac, Virginia creeper vine and red mulberry. Pretty much any tree or shrub that produces berries or other small fruit (like crabapples or persimmons) will attract birds. Blackberry and dewberry brambles attract birds, as do fruit-bearing trees like cherries, peaches and plums. To Attract Hummingbirds: You can attract hummingbirds using hummingbird feeders, but you have to change the nectar about once every three days to keep it from fermenting and harming the birds. They also are attracted to plants. Here's some you can plant that they like: Red-flowered yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) American Cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata) Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) Red-flowered Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp.)(annual) Cypress Vube (Ipomoea quamoclit) (annual) Purple Horsemint (Monarda citriodora) Wild Bergamont (Monarda fistulosa) Spotted Beebalm (Mondarda punctuata) Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinia) (usually annual, may reseed)(aka Texas Hummingbird Sage) Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) Heart-leaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus cardiophyllus) Scarlet Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra) Drummmon's Phlox (Phlox drummondii) Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa) (spring wildflower) Lantana (Lantana horrida) Many birds are attracted to composite flowers that provide seeds, including sunflowers, zinnias, Mexican sunflower, purple coneflowers, safflowers, etc. After they bloom, you don't deadhead them if they were planted for the birds. You leave the flowers on the plants so the birds can "harvest" the seeds as they dry. Don't forget to provide some kind of water source for the birds--a birdbath, a mister, a dripper, etc. Different kinds of birdseed attract different birds. To attract goldfinches in the winter months, put out a goldfinch feeder filled with thistle seed. Sometimes you can attract orioles by putting out oranges, orange-flavored nectar or grape jelly. Dawn

Any good bird identification book will tell you what a particular bird eats. As for websites, I like Cornell Lab of Ornithology (link below). Figure out which birds you'd most like to attract that are in your area at certain times of year. Finches will be attracted to your nyjer seed sock. In the winter, you may get Pine Siskins attracted to that same sock. In an irruption year, you may even get a flock of Common Redpolls in the winter. In winter I like to feed a good homemade suet. It attracts a lot of birds, but mostly I get to see woodpeckers and Bluebirds. I also keep a feeder with Black Oil Sunflower seed (summer and winter) which mostly attracts Tuffed Titmice, White Breasted Nuthatches, House Finches, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, and Black-Capped Chickadees. Another thing that will really bring them in during the winter months is a heated bird bath. I never feed the mixes. Most contain corn and millet which attract House Sparrows (a non-native species that I try to discourage). Here is a picture of an Eastern Bluebird, and Downy Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker on a suet feeder in winter. > Here is a link that might be useful: All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Bless you for feeding hungry birds! My cats are indoors, but I keep dry food out for some neighbors' cats that sometimes stay in the garage. My bird feeder resembles a plant stand; it has a tray sitting atop a column. The cats thought it was a smorgasboard! I moved it to a 'clear' spot, farther from any trees or shrubs or other 'cover' from which a cat might spring, & set it on top of a small patio table that's about the height of an end table, to give the birds a little more vertical room to flee in case of cat attack. so far, it's worked well. edited to add: Linda, you might put the feeder under some trees with high canopies; hawks hunt by sight, & trees would provide some cover. If you pick trees with high canopies, far away from shrubs that could conceal other predators, it might enable the birds to eat without being eaten. This post was edited by sylviatexas on Tue, Nov 26, 13 at 13:12