Dead crow mystery

I found a dead crow in the field behind my house yesterday. What was mysterious was that it was uneaten and partially buried- and partially covered with dead grass. A remarkably neat job all around. The hole was about 5 inches deep. My DH thought it was a piece of black plastic until he got a closer look.

There were a few feathers scattered nearby, but no other clues. We pulled it out of the hole and determined that its neck was broken, and other than a few feathers loose, it was in great shape. I've been told that we have coyote in the woods here- but would they bury their snack for later?

I have a few acres of field, and dense wood that backs up to a river, so it's a fairly untouched area in other wise overdeveloped CT. I've heard owls, and seen assorted hawks, and found mysterious scat in the field- so there are predators about. This was a good sized crow- what will kill a crow? And who buried it?

I'm thinking that maybe a redtail killed it, but then another critter got it (maybe a coyote?) and stashed it for later. The loose feathers were out in the open, so I don't think that it flew into the garage or anything like that. Any ideas? Thanks-

we've always had a local coyote.... and i've found partially buried 'snacks'
aside from 'parts' that we scattered about.

so, yes it is possible that a coyote was burying it for later consumption.

as for who/what killed it.... i have no idea.

Thanks for the coyote info- that helps alot!

The other possibility might be a fox. A fox is more likely to bury prey to eat later but not so much a coyote. Coyotes are opportunistic and will occasionally bury food though so probably one or the other got your crow.

Interestingly enough, sometimes they don't come back for it. At which point a member of the clean up crew comes and consumes it so don't be surprised if you see a vulture or an opossum feeding on the crow and then a mouse chewing on the bones to keep its teeth in check.