If you have the room, providing bird houses will encourage birds to raise families year after year in your yard. You can either purchase ones designed specifically for a particular species or make your own. Food Native plants will supply food but having feeders is so much fun. When purchasing bird seed it is best to get a good quality mixture with sunflower seeds, cracked corn, peanuts and millet. Birds will often toss out what they do not want and what hits the ground will be eaten by the ground feeding birds such as doves and also small mammals.
Many people get absolutely unreasonable about squirrels in their bird feeders.
I have never really had a problem and will share my secret - put out lots of feeders for the squirrels and fill them with the same mixture. The only time I get squirrels into my bird feeders is when the squirrel feeders run out. There are many beautiful bird feeders on the market and squirrels will chew. The best advice is to just get some cheap ones. That way you are not driving yourself nuts trying to control what you can not.