The BBC has released startling footage of a thieving falcon which snatched a video camera hidden inside a fake egg and filmed a penguin colony in the Falklands.

The striated caracara stole the penguin egg which contained a BBC film camera, and took off with it, capturing two minutes of incredible aerial views of the colony.

After 30 seconds, the camera slips from the falcon's grip and it falls to the ground. A pair of turkey vultures try to take the egg, but it tumbles further away.

The video was used in footage for a BBC1 documentary, Penguins - Spy in the Huddle, which is up for a National Television Award on Wednesday.

John Downer and his crew spent eight months infiltrating penguin colonies for the 2013 BBC documentary.

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The hidden camera was one of 50 used to record penguin behaviour.

The documentary follows the life of the birds across the globe, with footage of emperor penguins in the Antarctic, rockhopper penguins in the Falkland Islands and humboldt penguins in the Atacama Desert, Peru.

The bird of prey who inadvertantly made the film is also known as a Johnny Rook and has a penchant for penguin eggs.