Birds are probably a net gain for vegetables, a dead loss for fruits. But it depends on the type of bird.

Is this the little blueish-greyish guy in the link below? Mostly the guys you mention are seed eaters, though I think most birds feed insects to their young. I stop feeding in spring since the number that show up is greatly diminished. They'll come back with the cold weather in late autumn and I'll put out the feeder again then.

Can't say if your birds will turn into pests or not. The same birds in different locales can be pests in one place and benign in another. Sometimes I lose a few cherry tomatoes to birds, but a minor number.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:32079}}

I have pekini ducks who come to visit my yard. They live on the shores of the chesapeake bay and our local law protects them. They come to my yard because my woman gives food she loves them they look beautiful and they are old and young. Two years ago a nasty one nested into my boat parked at the boat hotel on the bay. I waited 29 days the egg hatched and she took her babies and left. Cleaning the boat with power washer was a nasty task.

Sunibell....yeah that's very similar to him. Although its hard to get a close view they are pretty fast

Last year, an exceptionally dry year in spring and late summer, I lost multiple plantings of seedlings to birds. They were a real pest. Other than that they have never bothered anything, although they are out and about digging through mulch and, presumably, reducing the number of grubs. Berries is another story, but now that the ash trees are gone, the squirrels are a much worse pest (with ash seeds present, they would not touch the raspberries).

If you don't want to mess with bird feed but still want to attract birds, add a couple of bird baths. Make sure that they are positioned in a location that makes keeping them cleaned and filled easy....near a hose.

Birds are very happy to have a source of clean, fresh water nearby.

Chicago - I think juncos fly north in the spring.