Funny, my neighbor used to feed the birds all winter with a large feeder that held literally gallons of seed. Used to have my fence "whitewashed" by March and seed hulls six inches deep underneath the feeder. I hated it. The feeder drew not only birds, but squirrels, field mice and field rats. Ick.
Luckily, I was not the only one watching all those critters stuffing themselves. One day, a medium-sized hawk showed up--parked himself on a branch about 300 yards away and efficiently flew in and killed quite a few of the birds over a period of days. The hawk ate them rather indelicately in my neighbor's yard, leaving little body parts and feathers all over
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My neighbor got very upset that a hawk would do such a thing -kill the cute widdle birdies AND eat them in her backyard. She has since removed the feeder saying it drew "nasty birds like hawks"...Sometimes, nature's too "naturey" for some folks. And sometimes problems like this take care of themselves. I wish i could convince the hawk to help out with the squirrels.