I second the bird bath suggestion. I have six of varying types and sizes on our half acre-one is just a fabulous blue flower pot saucer that I picked up. Just be sure to change the water every other day or so to avoid hatching mosquitoes. In winter, I cover the large stone baths with a plastic contractor's bag that I mold to shape the basin so I can still fill it but avoid water getting into small fissures in the concrete, freezing, and cracking the bowl. Not pretty, but my concrete baths have lasted forever. May not be necessary, but I do it. Oh, and be sure to place the bath near a tree or shrub that offers protection if the soggy bird needs to get away quickly. My favorites to watch are the blue jays and the robins. They really revel in the bath! Too funny. Finches love my echinacea plants and it is such a joy to see the goldfinches perched atop them. I have never grown any from seed. I bought two plants years ago and they have spread nicely to create a decent stand. Also, get a feeder or two. I feed year round (no seeds or berries to speak of until mid-summer, you know) with hulled sunflower seeds, so no mess. I also put out a suet feeder with plain suet. The flickers and woodpeckers love the suet and if you use plain suet, you won't have a problem with squirrels eating it all! Have fun! The birdsong that will fill your yard year-round will be such a joy!

How nice this thread got bumped! I enjoyed re-reading it and thinking about how much the yard has changed in a year. My bird-friendly yard is evolving. Have made great progress removing invasives, particularly Bittersweet, Buckthorn, and Norway Maples (treework cost me $2000 last year and there's still one GINORMOUS Norway maple left). There was a lot of brush created by all this tree/shrub work. Some was burned this Spring, right smack in the middle of the Oriental bittersweet patch, but the rest is in piles. The brush piles attract a lot of birds, particularly Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, and Wrens. The birds also love the back half-acre, which is wild and full of Crabapples, Choke Cherries, White Pine, and still some invasives like Honeysuckle and Autumn olive. Also making great progress on growing bird-friendly natives. Purchased another 50 native tree/shrub seedlings from the NH Nursery. That makes 130 total between this year and last - all of which ultimately make berries/nuts for the birds and wildlife. Most of them are in holding beds and haven't flowered yet, too little, but I've given away some and started to plant out a few. I winter-sowed many native species of perennials, annuals, and vines. Exactly where all this stuff is going, is not completely clear at this point, but I'm creating lasagne beds like crazy! The birds are always flitting around the yard and it's only going to get more interesting and fruitful for them (hopefully). It's great!

I put mine near a tree that they often frequented, not anywhere near the nest box. They found it quite quickly, and use it often during nesting season. If you leave out a bowl, most likely the mealworms will be eaten by everything else. I originally started out with the feeder on my deck, but the chipmunks would get in and take them all. So I mounted mine on a post with a guard, and use 1 1/2 inch wire openings on the sides so only the small birds can get it. Here is a picture of my original feeder (before I switched to a wire sided one). I have never had a chipmunk or squirrel get past the guard. I hope this helps.

Yes, cheap seed is filled with millet, loved by grackles, House Sparrows, pigeons, etc. You can get rid of many vermin birds and attract Goldfinches by switching to Black Oil sunflower seed (BOSS) and using tube feeders, or feeding the more expensive Nyjer, or thistle seed. Suet feeders will attract woodpeckers and wrens (mine especially love the 99 cent peanutbutter flavored suet packs from WalMart), orange halves will attract orioles, hummeringbird feeders will attract hummingbirds, but to attract Bluebirds you might have to serve live Mealworms. You can buy most feeders and feed inexpensively at a big box store like WalMart, as well as inexpensive backyard bird field guide booklets. Or you can order a more expensive field guide book, like The Sibley Guide to Birds, used, on Amazon.com