Malachite Sunbird
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[Photo] Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) adult male and female. Source Transvaal Museum, Pretoria. Date 6 May 1908. Author Claude Gibney Finch-Davies (1875-1920). License: public domain

The Malachite Sunbird, Nectarinia famosa is a small bird with two subspecies. The nominate N. f. famosa occurs mainly in South Africa, Lesotho and western Swaziland, although its range just extends into southern Namibia and Zimbabwe. N. f. cupreonitens breeds in the highlands from Ethiopia south to northern Mozambique.

This large sunbird is found in hilly fynbos, protea and aloe habitat and cool montane and coastal scrub, up to 2,800 m altitude in South Africa. It also occurs in parks and gardens. It is resident, but may move downhill in winter. Frequently found nesting in suburban gardens of the Highveld.

The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. This sunbird will flycatch for insect prey

Sunbird flight is fast and direct on short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. They have long thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to nectar feeding.

The oval nest is usually suspended, as with most sunbirds, or built in a bush. The female incubates one to three dark-blotched greenish eggs for two weeks. The chicks are fed by both parents until fledging; they will continue to return to the nest to roost. Malachite Sunbird is often double-brooded, but may be parasitised by Klaas's Cuckoo or Red-chested Cuckoo.

The breeding male Malachite Sunbird, which has very long central tail feathers, is 25 cm long, and the shorter-tailed female 15 cm. The adult male is metallic green when breeding, with blackish-green wings with small yellow pectoral patches. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the male’s upperparts are brown apart from the green wings and tail, the latter retaining the elongated feathers. The underparts in eclipse plumage are yellow, flecked with green.

The female has brown upperparts and dull yellow underparts with some indistinct streaking on the breast. Her tail is square-ended. The juvenile resembles the female.

This species is common in the highlands. It is territorial and aggressive when nesting, but highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of more than 1000 birds.

The call is a loud tseep-tseep, and the male Malachite Sunbird has a twittering song, often accompanied by pointing its head upward and displaying the yellow pectoral tufts with its wings half open. Males also have an elaborate display flight.

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