We were driving along an open crest when we spotted an eagle sitting under the canopy of a marula tree. When a bird of prey sits deep in a tree it usually indicates that it has a kill, as when they are on the hunt they generally sit higher on the outside branches.
Sure enough, a check with our binoculars revealed that it was a Brown Snake Eagle and it had caught what appeared to be a Schlegel’s blind snake.
We sat waiting for about 30 minutes for the eagle to start feeding, and when it finally did, we expected it would simply start tearing chunks of meat off with its sharp beak. What it actually did we were NOT expecting:
Ingesting the entire still-writhing snake in one long go, almost like a sword-swallower, was impressive to say the least. It was quite a thing to picture the snake still wriggling in the eagle’s crop. What was even more surprising was when the bird swooped down to the ground and caught a second blind snake, which went the same way as the first.
Nature never ceases to amaze!
Looking at the video (twice), is it possible that the snake is aiding the process of “swallowing” by heading in the only direction it can, forwards?
James, keep them coming2🤗
That is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen! Wow!
Makes me want to cough!
Wow. Amazing sighting.
Absolutely amazing! And then it hear that it immediately caught another and ate it alive as well was over the top!
WOW!!!!What excellent photography and narration. Amazing.
Truly amazing! At what point did the snake breathe his last, I wonder. Nature!
Remarkable! – what do the textbooks say?
This is really so amazing! I wonder whether the snake is still wriggling around in the bird’s stomach?
Great that you were able to watch this.
Love the email still of the snake eagle in flight. Also the the final on take off. Only one woman’s opinion; best thing about raptors photos are flight, landings and take offs ( especially out of water). 🦅
That is an interesting viewing you had James. I would have imagined, like you, that it would tear it apart to eat it. One has to wonder if it regurgitated it when it got to wherever it was going – likely to feed chicks. Thanks for sharing with us.
Wow that is so crazy!!!! Never seen that before! Then to still catch a second one and eat it the same way, two slithering snakes in the crop – eeek! Great footage too!
That was amazing! Who would ever believe that this snake eagle consumed the blind snake in one go- only your video backs up your blog. Thank you for sharing this.
That was insane, and really cool… for the eagle anyway!
James, That video is so cool! What a lucky and patient man you are to see that! 🙂
Wow, that is an impressive performance by the aptly named eagle! I have never witnessed that! Thanks for sharing!