Why will a buzzard eat a skunk, but not touch a coyote? And either one not touch a crow?

Buzzards are scared of coyotes and both end up at the same carcasses. Coyotes will kill buzzards, and they know it.

But, buzzards clean up coyotes on my place almost on a monthly basis. Often they verify the coyote is dead for 12 to 24 hours before they go to work on it.

This is something I’ve wondered myself. I can shoot a deer or hog and they are on it in minutes but coyotes rot where they lay.

I shot a yote with my bow once and as I was carrying it back to the truck, I had a buzzard following me just above the treetops before I got there.

This is at my place also.

Buzzards are starving at my place and will clean up almost anything in a matter of hours. BUT, My neighbor lost a bull to starvation, it died sitting upright on his sternum. NOTHING ate that animal. Ideas?

Classic cattle mutilation.

"Moreover, ranchers tell us that, when a cattle dies, scavengers feed on the carcass. However, in every case of mutilations, none were molested by scavengers of any kind, vultures, etc., avoid them like the plague."

https://modernfarmer.com/2021/03/lets-talk-about-cattle-mutilations/

Buzzards have no issues eating coyotes at my place, no more so than any other critter. Every so often, however, I find that they won't touch a hog and for about 3 months, I had a roadkill deer outside my place on the ROW that attracted little attention from buzzards.

Anything will eat most anything if it’s hungry enough and the food is already dead. I had to kick a cat off a dead Crip three times one night. He hadn’t been dead an hour and the cat showed up.