This is the moment a bird or prey attacked a drone while it was filming a tourism mascot in Japan.

The black kite was on its tree and observing the television crew while they shot a commercial for the adorable green figure Sudachi-kun of Tokushima Prefecture on October 11.

However, when the crew flew a drone for their ending shot, the opportunistic creature swooped in and struck the camera with its sharp talons.

Footage shows the aggressive bird gliding in the air and landing its feet on the electronic before the screen goes out.

The mascot character Sudachi-kun said: ‘Our team was so shocked that there was a bird watching us. I asked them to take a picture and video but then our drone was down from the mighty bird.'

The drone operator was confused about what happened as the bird was swift and gone in seconds.

After trekking down the cliff, they retrieved the electronic device's storage card to watch the video and were amused at the creature.

Tatsuya Imamori, from Japan's Goshawk Network and Hokuriku Ornithological Research Institute, identified the bird.

He said: ‘That was black kite. They are hunters and often attacked drones. The kite might have mistook the drone for food and took it down.'