A one-second clip of a cheeky eagle peering into a camera is the only clue Matthew Wood has about what happened to his drone.
The keen amateur photographer and videographer had been enjoying a day in the picturesque Pioneer Valley, west of Mackay in Queensland, when it all went wrong.
"I was just flying along the grassy hills up there and it was looking really nice and really nice lighting ... then the drone took a hit," he said.
"I was watching it all while it was connected to my controller and all I saw was the camera pretty much looking at the ground as the eagle flew away with it."
Mr Wood said he quickly jumped on his motorbike and rode down the range and managed to pick up a GPS signal, but the drone appeared to be in a heavily grassed area, or high in a tree.
A fun but deadly device
With drones becoming more affordable, many people are trying their hand at remotely piloted aviation.
That's much to the dismay of Gisela Kaplan from the University of New England.
"The drone is the saddest set of activities that humans have yet rendered [against birds] ... We've taken the land from them, we were cutting down roosting and nesting trees," Professor Kaplan said.
"The airspace was the only place that was for the birds."
She said drones were not only dangerous but very frightening for birds and often viewed as a threat.
"It can cut their legs off and that's the end of life for a raptor, because they hunt with their feet.
"Some birds have adjusted to city life and all of its noises, but this is a concentrated noise — it's like a jackhammer in the sky.
"And drones are unpredictable — they can go forwards, backwards and sideways and that kind of unpredictability is almost impossible to adapt to."
Are new restrictions needed?
Professor Kaplan has studied birds for more than 25 years and said that technology has evolved much more quickly than birds.
"They [the birds] have evolved to have vision that actually goes downwards and sideways, so they don't see what's in front," she said.
"They have to tilt their heads to do that and they normally don't do that in flight."
Professor Kaplan said wind turbines were another obstacle birds could not adjust to.
She has recommended that drones be banned from certain areas during nesting season.
"You don't allow fishing when there's spawning season, so don't allow drones when there's a breeding season because it will stop the birds from breeding," she said.
"And since numbers of birds are declining we can't afford the birds that have found nesting spots, not to breed."
For drone enthusiast and photographer, Matthew Wood, a closure makes sense.
"I think it's a good idea because I like to do a checklist and run through my head before I go out ... am I flying legally, am I not endangering people or things or animals?" he said.
"I think I might have to be very aware of areas that might have eagles and where nesting season is."
Current regulations restrict drones to heights below 120-metres above the ground and not in populated areas or within 30 metres of a person.
While Mr Wood said he was initially upset about the loss of his favourite drone, he's resigned to the fact he's unlikely to see it again.
"I was sort of cranky about it because it's a bit of money gone, but I was in their habitat and had disturbed them so they've decided to take it," he said.
