Two birds of prey have been caught on camera brutally fighting over a nesting box , staring each other down before attacking each other with sharp talons and beaks . A kestrel and a barn owl repeatedly lunged at each other while trying to gain mastery of the box so they could lay eggs and rear their young in safety . And despite the owl 's cuddly reputation , it came out the victor , forcing the kestrel to seek an alternative home for itself and its mate . Face-off : A barn owl and a kestrel have been caught on camera fighting in a nesting box . Conflict : The two birds of prey lunged at each other in a vicious scrap . The fight was captured on video by wildlife photographer Robert Fuller , using a camera he set up inside a 13ft-high elm tree stump in his garden in Thixendale , North Yorkshire . He said that a pair of kestrels had been guarding the nesting box in the tree , but when they left in the evening a barn owl swooped in and laid a claim to the nest . After the owl drove the kestrels away he managed to attract a mate to share his new home - but the kestrels found an alternative nesting box in Mr Fuller 's garden . The cameras were set up as part of an exhibition at Mr Fuller 's gallery , monitoring the nest of blackbirds , blue tits and pheasants as well as birds of prey . Confrontation : The kestrel was attempting to win back the nesting box after guarding it all day . Flurry : A video camera captured the vicious fight , with the two birds throwing themselves at each other . On top : At one point the kestrel had the owl up against the wall of the box inside an old tree stump . Mr Fuller said : 'The nest has been used in the past by tawny owls and this year the kestrels were showing a lot of interest in it . 'The female was guarding it during the day then in the evening a male barn owl started coming in and calling for a mate . 'The kestrel and barn owl battle is absolutely spectacular footage . It 's much more exciting than any soap or drama on TV . 'In the footage you can see the barn owl lands and the kestrel comes right behind and hits so hard it knocks it inside and into the nest wall . 'Both birds are very well equipped to kill things , they have very sharp talons . They often have disputes in the air but here they were in a very confined space . Turnaround : Despite the kestrel 's more aggressive reputation , the barn owl ended up defeating it . Victor : At the end of the video the owl can be seen admiring its new home . 'At the beginning the barn owl was looking for an escape route but the male kestrel keeps appearing at the opening . 'Kestrels have a terrier mentality , they 're aggressive . Barn owls are n't really but they do have very long legs and talons , it was a fairly even battle . 'The kestrels have been here since 2006 and I feed them in the garden , they 're like part of the family . But the barn owl is my favourite bird and I wanted them to nest here too . I did n't want either of them to get injured . 'The barn owl won , he 's found a mate now and the kestrels are in a different nesting box in my garden . The female is guarding it day and night , she 's not going to get caught out again . ' Barn owls and kestrels are both attracted to nests which overlook open land , meaning that it is fairly common for them to compete for the same nesting space .
Two birds of prey fought each other in a North Yorkshire garden . The two raptors were fighting over the same piece of fruit when one was shot dead by another and fell to the ground.