It turns out humans aren't the only creatures who enjoy eating birds on Thanksgiving.

A student at Columbia University shot an incredible video of a hungry hawk devouring a helpless pigeon shortly before 3pm on Saturday in New York.

The amazing footage starts by showing the hawk towering over its prey, as feathers are seen strewn across the grass.

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A hungry hawk has been spotted eating a pigeon in front of a crowd of students in New York

It then picks at the lifeless body of the pigeon, ripping shreds of meat off with its powerful beak.

The Columbia student who witnessed the food chain in action said the incident took place in the heart of the university's bustling Manhattan grounds.

'It was right in the middle of campus, outside the business building,' the student told DailyMail.com.

'I was just on my way to get a coffee when I saw this massive bird on the grass and it was among a lot of feathers.

A student at Columbia University shot an incredible video of a hungry hawk devouring a helpless pigeon shortly before 3pm on Saturday

The amazing footage starts by showing the hawk towering over its prey, as feathers are seen strewn across the grass

'At first I thought it was some kind of demonstration or animal show because there was a bunch of people standing around, but as I got closer I saw that in fact the hawk was actually eating a pigeon.'

He went on to say it was 'hard not to watch' the hawk picking apart the pigeon, despite it being a little uncomfortable.

'It was amazing. People were just filming. Some people were walking past saying "oh my god", others were more courageous and got up close to the hawk… I didn’t feel too comfortable doing that,' he said.

'I didn’t see the hawk actually get the pigeon, but it looked like it was guarding the food. It was literally standing on it, it was pretty gross to see and hear the sound.

'It ate the entire thing. Then just flew away. It was there for maybe half an hour,' a student who witnessed the incident said

'It ate the entire thing. Then just flew away. It was there for maybe half an hour.'

'I’ve never seen anything like this before.'