LAST month, it was a spider chowing down on local birdlife that caused a media frenzy around the world.

Not to be outdone, a python has taken up the challenge with a hapless sulphur-crested cockatoo (bird) falling victim to its hungry jaws last Thursday night.

Artist and Clifton Beach resident Cindy Lane was painting in her studio around 8pm when she heard a "couple of loud squawks" coming from the bougainvillea tree in her backyard.

View more photos of the snake eating the huge cockatoo bird. 

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 told The Cairns Post.

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."

See more amazing animal photos:
>> Spider eats bird
>> Another brutal wildlife meal
>> Monster python eats pet

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