Mark-I haven't had any dead birds to pick up. Yes, I know how much feed (and even hay) those free-loading birds can consume. As I've understood from others, these birds call out a warning cry to the others when something is wrong. My guess is that is what happened-a couple got to feeling bad, scared the others off, and wobbled off to die. I haven't seen one drop of manure in my water tank since last week, a huge victory! As for setting feed out only at dark, I have also found that my deer do eat different proportions on different days/nights. I put out enough for 24 hours, and they only eat 25% in the first 12 hours, then the last 75% in the last 12 hours, which is in the daylight.