Hi jbid!
We have a multi-trunk amelanchier 'Autumn Brilliance' for 6 years now. It was planted by the landscaper at the NE corner of the house (new construction). Like you, we wanted trees and shrubs to attract birds and to offer interest in at least 3 seasons.
In theory, the serviceberry fits the bill. It blooms in April on bare branches; the fruit ripens in June and is tasty; it turns an apricot color in fall; it has a nice multitrunk winter silhouette with smooth gray-bark. However it has disappointed in several ways.
1 - it is an understory tree probably planted in too much
sun. Also we have a lot of wind which may be too much stress for the tree.
2 - As a result of the above stresses, it has had scale and black spot every year. Japanese beetles seem to like it very much but a climbing hydrangea planted nearby acts as a "trap". Lacebugs and mites cause the leaves to look pretty ratty by summer's end.
3 - Because of the pests and diseases, it hasn't shown much fall color after it's first autumn in the ground.
4 - We have bluebirds who nest in the yard every year; we also have robins and mockingbirds. The birds have shown little interest in the berries except this year we had a bumper crop of berries but the mockingbird decided that this was his/her tree and chased off any trespasser who showed interest.
5 - It suckers a lot.
This has been my experience so far in our Central PA yard. There is a more mature serviceberry about 2 blocks from our home that is really lovely during the growing season and it doesn't appear to have many, if any, suckers. I'm hoping that ours is just a "gangly teenager" and will out grow its annoyances.
Most folks on this site and others have much better experience than I have had. It may very well be that it's a matter of careful siting to have success.
Good luck with you project.
Pat

Thanks pat!

Your response is much appreciated. Since wind isn't a big concern for us, as we live in a pretty mountainous region of jersey, and I have read that servicberries like our clay soil, the only concern for us would be too much sun. It would get pretty much full sun out front, although I have read they can tolerate being out of the shade. What are the suckers like? Are they like little saplings that pop up near the tree? Sorry, I know its a lot of questions lol!Thanks so much for the great info!

For me the suckers are a minor nuisance. They need to be ripped off about 2x/season. They appear at the base and as far out as 1.5-2 feet from the main stems growing from the main roots. They aren't seedlings. I believe it's the natural growth habit as they form colonies in the wild. It's just that this tree is in front of the house and the bed it's in just won't accommodate a "colony".
Other shrubs I have for birds (not as a substitute for serviceberry) are red-osier dogwood, winterberry holly, blue holly, lonicera periclymenum, viburnum. The red-osier dogwoods so far have attracted the most interest, bird-wise. The catbirds, robins, bluebirds and mockingbirds seem to eat the white berries almost as soon as they appear. Also for the last 2 springs I've seen cedar waxwings nearby and I think they are eating the berries on the blue hollies.
Another that I want to try is Aronia but there seem to be mixed opinions as to its attractiveness to wildlife.
Questions are always good. you are smart to seek to learn from others' real life experience. Sometimes the hype can be costly as well as disappointing.
Pat

The last sentence is very true. I bid on a service berry earlier this year and won the bid. Now I am finding out the suckering. Since I was going to replace a gray dogwood and a sumac that were suckering all over the place I can now see the service berry will not work there. Hopefully I can palm it off on someone that has a larger area to plant in.

I also just heard they get a relentless fungus from cedars within a 3 mile radius that defoliates them unless you spray. have to do more research to confirm, but suffice to say was alarmed at news. A serviceberry was at the top of my list.