In SN 47.6, as in many suttas, the Buddha constantly reminds you that sati ("Mindfulness") is to be done all the time, 24/7, or death and suffering can be expected.
When you do sati, you're in your safe ancestral territory.
When you don't do sati, you're in Māra's territory, the 5kg cords of sensual desire.
sati ("Mindfulness") = remembering and applying the Buddha's Dhamma.
If no specific Dhamma is given in that context,
then default value of Dhamma is the 4 satipaṭṭhāna.
"Mindfulness" can not be nonjudgmental choiceless awareness!
Notice how the simile doesn't work if you follow the watered down and down right wrong definition of "mindfulness" used by many Buddhist teachers,
influenced by the hijacked modern psychotherapy bastardization of sati.
If the quail was sitting there being nonjudgmental, nonreactive, "choiceless awareness",
the hawk would eat him for lunch.
Instead, the quail is discerning (sati + sampajāno is wisdom/discernment faculty),
the quail uses Dhamma as weapons and applies the appropriate one (sati = remember and apply Dharma).
Wisdom rides shotgun with sati "mindfulness" in satipaṭṭhāna formula (sato ca sampajāno).
right effort is also built in to sati,
as is samādhi (vineyya loke abhijjha... references abandoning 5 hindrances).
samādhi is the undistractible lucidty (lucidity = sati seeing reality as it truly is) and singular focus with which one applies sati every moment.
Choiceless awareness non-judgmental mental activity is the brainless activity of an idiot about to become dead meat.
If we borrow the Buddha's simile, the hawk in SN 47.6 also represents "choiceless nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment."
It's following a brain dead simple minded course of action that leads to getting its brains smashed against the rock in the present moment.
SN 47.6 A hawk and a quail
“Once upon a time, monks, a hawk suddenly swooped down and grabbed a quail.
And as the quail was being carried off he wailed:
‘I’m so unlucky, so unfortunate, to have roamed out of my territory into the domain of others.
If today I’d roamed within my own territory, the domain of my fathers, this hawk wouldn’t have been able to beat me by fighting.’
‘So, quail, what is your own territory, the domain of your fathers?’
‘It’s a ploughed field covered with clods of earth.’
Because of her own strength, the hawk was not daunted or intimidated. She released the quail, saying:
‘Go now, quail. But even there you won’t escape me!’
Then the quail went to a ploughed field covered with clods of earth. He climbed up a big clod, and standing there, he said to the hawk:
‘Come get me, hawk! Come get me, hawk!’
Because of her own strength, the hawk was not daunted or intimidated. She folded her wings and suddenly swooped down on the quail.
When the quail knew that the hawk was nearly there, he slipped under that clod.
And the hawk crashed chest-first right there.
That’s what happens when you roam out of your territory into the domain of others.
So, monks, don’t roam out of your own territory into the domain of others.
If you roam out of your own territory into the domain of others, Māra will find a vulnerability and get hold of you.
And what is not a monk’s own territory but the domain of others?
It’s the five kinds of sensual stimulation.
What five?
Sights known by the eye that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing.
Sounds known by the ear …
Smells known by the nose …
Tastes known by the tongue …
Touches known by the body that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing.
This is not a monk’s own territory but the domain of others.
You should roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers.
If you roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers, Māra won’t find a vulnerability or get hold of you.
And what is a monk’s own territory, the domain of the fathers?
It’s the four kinds of remembering and applying Dharma.
Which Four?
It’s when …
He lives continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is].
He lives continuously seeing sensations as sensations [as it truly is].
He lives continuously seeing a mind as a mind [as it truly is].
He lives continuously seeing ☸Dharma as ☸Dharma [as it truly is].
[in each of the 4 ways of remembering]:
he is ardent 🏹, he has lucid discerning 👁, he remembers 🐘 [to apply relevant ☸Dharma].
he should remove greed and distress regarding the world.
This is a monk’s own territory, the domain of the fathers.”
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