What I have recently discovered/experienced: something is knocking the dead birds off the rail either during the night or early in the morning. I've been finding them on the ground. Is it the ducks or the grackles dive bombing them?
So, I hooked the feet in the rail where the edges overlap. Now they stand up vs. lay down.
View attachment 493381
So far still better than before.
We also have ducks that frequent the pool every morning. They ignore the neighbor's dog and our garden hose.
Grackles will drop their dead baby birds in the water.
Also, once you get them remember to move them daily.
I'm beginning to think the fake crow is a deterrent, not necessarily that it looks dead.