Location: Africa
Species: African Fish Eagle and Carmine Bee-eaters
Recorded: 2021-1-15
Added: 2025-11-17
Source: Wildlife Kaptured

In this clip from the BBC series The Perfect Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, an African Fish Eagle hunts the Southern Carmine Bee-eater at a bustling nesting colony in southern Africa.
Southern carmine bee-eaters breed in large colonies, excavating burrows in the sandy riverbanks of major rivers. These dense colonies attract a range of predators, including birds of prey and snakes, all drawn by the seasonal abundance of vulnerable chicks. While fish eagles are among the most formidable hunters, they are not the only threat.
Breeding in large colonies, however, reduces the overall risk to individual birds through safety in numbers. Predators are often territorial and limited by their hunting range, and once a large raptor has fed, killing typically ceases until the following day. This dramatic interaction highlights both the dangers of colonial nesting and the finely balanced dynamics of life along Africa’s great rivers.