Low noise birds for a suburb enviroment

I'm currently living a suburban area with an ordinance against poultry.

With a large fenced yard shrouded by plants though, I'm trying to work a way into getting some low key birds, mainly for pest control, eggs are not a necessity.

The birds must be able to hold their own against a large, though fat & lazy cat. Noise is the key concern, what with neighbors abound. What are some bird suggestions for this situation?

Quail would be good. Much smaller coops too....

simply just attract local birds and such. plant shrubs, get some bird feeders, bird bath.

all those things can be multi functional

Small birds are plentiful, but they're too content with the ample seed provided within the safe bird feeders to bother with much on the ground. Ground feeder's are what I need.

Quails seemed like a good size, how are they in regards to noise? Are some breeds noisier? Mating calls? ... Ect?

Can you give some details about what kind of pests you're trying to control? Native wild birds, as Hubert mentions, are good for controlling some pests, especially caterpillars. Snakes, lizards, frogs and toads are good at going after various other insects on the ground. There are many resources on the web about how to attract wild birds and these other helpful critters.

Yes, caterpillars, their population here is explosive, perhaps due to the fact that I have the only yard in the vicinity that isn't predominately sterile, barren grass.

For that same reason it attracts many wild birds, but the regulars just don't cut it. In spring I must squash over a hundred caterpillars every week, and this is across only a small backyard area.

Attracting birds to kill caterpillars is easy peasy. Start bartending. They need someplace to hang out (perches) and something to wet their whistle (birdbath). If you can make those happen, they'll find their own bar-snacks.

Check & check. Many trees of all sizes, six ponds & two birdbaths. I've gone this route, the many small birds certainly provide assistance & they're just nice to have around, but they just don't keep the caterpillar population in check.

Back to the topic of small fowl; how noisy are Quails? Any other fowl suggestions?

Bear Edinoh wrote: Back to the topic of small fowl; how noisy are Quails? Any other fowl suggestions?

Domesticated fowl, if let loose to control caterpillars, will decimate your greens. THey're omnivores, after all. Unless you have at least... oh... 1/10th of an acre and a pond for ducks and don't mind replanting the tastier species?

Bear Edinoh wrote: Check & check. Many trees of all sizes, six ponds & two birdbaths. I've gone this route, the many small birds certainly provide assistance & they're just nice to have around, but they just don't keep the caterpillar population in check.

Then you don't have jaybirds. Mine are absolutely merciless -- we have nesting families that are just The Bane Of Caterpillars. Or you have mutant caterpillars. What kind of pests do you have, anyway? Help us with more information and we'll give you better answers.