Food, cover and water need to be arranged near each other. Feeders with no nearby cover will either not be used, or may increase mortality through exposure to adverse weather or by predation. Plant conifers to break the prevailing winds, and on the protected side of the windbreak, have feeders and plants, and shrubs with berries. Perhaps your house serves as the windbreak to important feeding and nesting areas. When placing nest boxes, locate them to meet the needs of the species for which the nest box is intended.
Natural predation is natural.
Although free-ranging dogs and cats are natural hunters, they are not part of natural predation. In Wisconsin, for example, a recent study estimated 35 million birds are killed each year by free-ranging domestic cats. To offer protection for birds, feeders should be 10 feet from cover, and birdbaths should be 15 feet from cover, because cats use the cover to ambush birds using them. Declawing or putting bells on cats is only partially effective. Of course, your own cats can be kept indoors.