Help identifying bird killer!

[Wild Boar]

Wondered if anybody could help with some identification. I walk my dog through farmland alongside a disused railway line, now filled with open water, marsh and grassland (a real wildlife haven) and lined with lots of shrubs and trees providing dense cover. A few days ago I noticed a large hole had been recently dug a few yards from the footpath in the field amongst the crops. On investigation it was quite large and deep, the direction it followed taking it round a bend and beyond my view. There appeared to be the remains of a bird at the bend in the tunnel. Over the next few days I have found several pairs of wings still attached to each other (the wings completely intact and still joined by bones), but no sign of the rest of the bird, around the hole. They appear to be pheasant wings. There were no droppings nearby. My first thought is a fox. We do get foxes, but they are very elusive and you only ever see their droppings, so I thought it was odd that they would make a den in such an open place that, although not busy, does have a few dog walkers passing by daily. I've just got in from walking the dog and she was sniffing around it and suddenly got spooked and backed away, which is unlike her as she's a tough as old boots rottie that sticks her face everywhere! She seemed very unsure of the pheasant wings too, which I'd normally have to pry off her. I didn't notice an obvious smell around the hole myself.

Is it a fox? The intact pairs of wings are what really intrigued me!

[posie]

..Hello Wild Boar, and Welcome to WAB......It wouldn't be a Badger sett would it? cos your dog would possibly be more wary of a badger than a fox. Badgers do eat birds, so maybe you could find some droppings to have identified.....Posie..

[paulthomas]

It's probably a Fox. What shape is the hole? Badger holes are usually shaped like a D on its side and you should see the remains of bedding (grass, bracken etc) amongst the spoil if it's occupied.

[The Woodman]

The remains of prey are usually indicative of a vixen feeding young. A dusk or dawn stakeout might provide the answer.

[Gill Catton]

I have found several badger setts out in the open like this. Fox is certainly more likely to kill birds but I wouldn't put it past a badger if the bird was sick or young and naive.