That poor little drone never saw it coming.
Brilliant Bounty
Eagles and drones go together like pie and ice cream — and in a new video, one raptor shows just how awesome its predatory skills really are.
Posted on the r/Drones subreddit, the drone video shot by Utah photographer Adam Culbertson starts out similarly to most of his other footage on the @atomic_adventure Instagram account, with a drone soaring among ancient rock structures near Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.
About a minute into the footage, however, the smoothness of drone flight is suddenly shaken and the edge of an eagle’s wing can be seen. Eventually, viewers get a partial look at the bird’s head and beak, more of its wings, and its underbelly.
Notably, at no point does the forward-facing camera capture the bird’s approach, which is an extremely badass example of predator behavior that gave such creatures the name “birds of prey.”
Warranty Included
In a comment, the photographer seemed to suggest that he looked around for the drone after it was ganked by the eagle, but ultimately wasn’t able to find it.
“Oh yeah I gave up, the eagle was going over 40mph and was pretty far away by the time I lost connection,” Culbertson wrote. “I spend [a lot of] time in the backcountry and it’s likely in one of the most inaccessible areas in the state of Utah.”
As multiple Redditors pointed out, footage of drones being snatched up by eagles has become so common, it’s almost as if companies are “paying the birds of prey” to do their “viral marketing” for them.
All the same, this video is particularly stunning, and an awesome example of how feeble our tech can be when faced with the power of nature.
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