Taking the plunge: The kingfisher spots a fish below the surface and takes a premise aim, left, before entering the water like a dart by tucking in its wings to snap up its catchIn the modern world, mothers and fathers are expected to share the childcare duties - and that includes feeding the kids. Now, remarkable and rare new images have emerged which prove that kingfishers do just the same.
These pictures show hungry eight-day-old kingfisher chicks jostling with each other for scraps of food from their parents. It's an intimate moment - captured thanks to a camera hidden deep in the nest in which the family have set up home.
The enchanting pictures were the brainchild of photographer and lifelong kingfisher enthusiast Charlie Hamilton James, who has spent his career photographing the breathtaking birds. But he had long dreamed of capturing them nesting and feeding.
Months of planning were needed after Hamilton James decided to set up an artificial nest (complete with secret lens) in a muddy riverbank, with the hope of attracting a mating pair.
Not only did it work to dramatic effect, it also got around the problem that photographing kingfishers in their own nest is illegal without a licence from Natural England.
Numbers of the birds have stalled in Britain thanks to pollution in our rivers, and if disturbed while nesting they can abandon their young.
Hungry brood: In the cosy confines of a riverbank nest, this dedicated female kingfisher feeds her eight-day-old chicks, one at a time, with fish such as minnows and sticklebacks
Second helpings: Mum and Dad take it in turns to find fish for their chicks. Here the male brings his catch back to the nestIn the first two images, Hamilton James captured a kingfisher arrowing at up to 60mph into a river in south Gloucestershire before grabbing a small fish in its beak.
The cameras inside the nest then recorded a male and female sharing the domestic duties, which include building the nest, incubating the chicks for 20 days, and then feeding them.
The chicks are fed in rotation to ensure no one goes hungry, and they can each eat 12 to 18 fish a day. After a month, they leave the nest to explore the outside world - learning to feed themselves, and ultimately to fly in search of their own mate.
Time for bed: All that eating is tiring work. Their appetites satisfied, the kingfisher chicks are ready for a rest. One even appears to be yawning in its mum's direction
Feather bed: The chicks settle down to sleep under their father's warm plumage. It's a welcome rest from catching fish for him, too... until tomorrowsource :dailymail
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