Watch: Eagle swats drone out of sky in Australia

While drones have soared in popularity, their place in the animal kingdom remains at the bottom of the food chain.

The latest evidence: This video from an Aussie videographer shows a large wedge-tailed eagle knock his camera-toting drone out of the sky.

"Eagle is fine," videographer Adam Lancaster wrote on the video description of the dramatic encounter.

The GoPro camera was knocked off the drone but survived the 50-foot fall, Lancaster said.

Commenters speculated on the YouTube video that the bird was defending her babies, though Lancaster said he saw no nest nearby.

"We found ourselves suddenly in a position where we were getting great footage of an eagle," he wrote. "We didn't really have long enough to think we're probably triggering her territorial instincts."

Chimpanzee uses branch to swat drone out of sky

The eagle-drone clash comes four months after a chimpanzee destroyed an invading drone at a Dutch Zoo.

That encounter cost the zoo $2,100. By comparison, the eagle only inflicted $31 damage on the Aussie drone, Lancaster said.

"I won't be flying the local seemingly 'safe' area anymore," Lancaster wrote.

According to the Australia Zoo, wedge-tailed eagles prey on rabbits, wallabies, small kangaroos, swamp birds and reptiles. We can now add drones to the list.

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