The power of the ninja bird's kick

The snake-eating kite can kick 5-6 times its body weight, causing the prey to be defeated.

According to the BBC, British researchers learn the kick of a male snake-eating kite named Madeleine . It was trained at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, UK conservation center, to attack rubber snakes. Madeleine is a 24-year-old bird, weighing 4kg. The study, published Jan. 25 in Current Biology, can help robot design engineers work more flexibly.

Medeleine attacked the rubber snake.(Photo: Hawk Conservancy).

The snake-eating kite lives in sub-Saharan Africa. When standing, they are 1.4 meters high. This is a species of snake-eating animals , lizards and small animals. "The predatory character of snake-eating kites is a unique feature," said Steve Portugal, an animal physiology doctor at the University of London, UK.

When hunting, snake-eating kites attack prey with kicks. These kicks are truly accurate, agile and brutal, making Dr Portugal call them "ninja birds" . Snake-eating kites can launch strong kicks of 195 Newtons, 5-6 times their body weight, within 15 milliseconds (0.015 seconds). A blink of a human eye takes 150 milliseconds.

Dr Portugal said most of the animals took the momentum to launch the strongest blow, but snake-eating kites attacked in a standing position and all of their force came from one leg.

In fact, the ability to kill prey quickly by snake-eating kites makes researchers encounter some difficulties. In the first experiments, Madeleine discovered the power cable and began attacking it instead of the rubber snake.