A horrifying video clip filmed in the Amazon shows the crimson-crested woodpecker taking on the massive 10ft snake.

Refusing to give up its nest to the scaly beast, the woodpecker repeatedly strikes at the snake.

It battles for its place but each time is bitten by the venomous snake, who swings its head around violently to strike the bird, reports The Sun.

The fight to the death lasted about five minutes before the wounded bird took off and is believed to have been killed by another predator.

Assaf Admoni, 38, an engineer from Israel, took the stunning footage while holidaying on the Yarapa River in Peru.

It recently resurfaced online after stunned viewers shared it on social media.

‘We think the snake was looking for eggs or chicks and the woodpecker arrived to find it had moved in while she was away,’ Assaf said.

‘It really looked like the female was acting frantically out of maternal instinct. She just kept racing up the tree and attacking the snake on its side.

‘The snake wasn’t very happy about that. It kept lunging at her and it landed its strike every time.’

Online viewers couldn’t believe the woodpecker’s determination not to be beaten by the much larger snake.

‘That woodpecker is here to kick that snake’s ass,’ one viewer commented on YouTube.

Another said: ‘Why is the woodpecker so obsessed with that hole?’

While a third added: ‘I would kill that snake if I saw this happening. I hate snakes.’