text: 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 aren'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 didn'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.
target: Two birds of prey fought each other in a North Yorkshire garden .
  Barn owl succeeded in driving out a kestrel from nesting box which he had been guarding all day .
  The battle was caught on camera by photographer Robert Fuller .