Python eats cockatoo in Australia

Artist and Clifton Beach resident Cindy Lane was painting in her studio when she heard a "couple of loud squawks" coming from the bougainvillea tree in her backyard.

On closer inspection, she found the python coiling itself tightly around the bird high in the tree’s branches.

"I considered jumping in to save him, but his last breath was literally being squeezed from him as we approached," she said.



She said the python then took about two hours to complete his meal after "one false start" with another half hour to enjoy his spoils before moving on.

"It was difficult to watch but at the same time mesmerising," Ms Lane said.

"It was just so clever how it used his upper coils to get the wings aligned so it could swallow the whole thing."

There's a large gallery of photos here.