Well John, tell us the story and let's seem more of this adventure. To they get tired of it or do they eventually bite the head off. Don't they have a snse of smell good enough to distinguish it from real living prey?
asher
Hi Asher
I may be able to help out here.
Not being an expert i will stand to be corrected, but the following is information as best as i remember from the demonstration of this birds behavior.
As John has said they kill their prey (snakes) by stamping on its head with their talons. This behavior is totally natural and is something that they know how to do from birth. If they get it wrong in practice its likely to be the last mistake they make.
When stamping on the snake they drop their tail feathers down between their legs to try and give the snake something as a target other than the birds legs. If the snake strikes feathers its not a problem as they carry no blood, if it strikes the legs its likely to be fatal.
The shot that John has captured is what the bird does when confronted by a "rearing cobra" it will jump / fly up and kick the snakes head to drop it to the ground. It then proceeds to stamp it to death.
In the demonstration the bird stamps on the snake until it feels it has killed it, it then looks at the falconer, and is then generally rewarded with a piece of food (normally chicken).
Not sure about the sense of smell, but certainly the bird seems to know when the snake should be dead
Hope this has given a bit more of an insight to this beautiful birds behavior.
From a demonstration earlier in the year a shot of the same behavior from a different angle.
John
