Malachite Kingfishers compete with one another for favorable river-bank nesting burrow sites as the water level of the Okavango falls. A clutch of up to 6 eggs is laid in the almost yard-long burrow that the bird excavates itself. The chicks hatch at daily intervals and leave the burrow after 22 days either spontaneously or by following a departing parent. Brooding behavior and feeding filmed inside the nest burrow. On leaving the nest the young birds are fed for only a few more days. Soon they are independent enough to spear fish swimming near the surface themselves. Slow-motion shots.