- Nectarinia famosa
Identification
Male 24–27 cm (9½-10½ in); female 13–15 cm (5-6 in)
Male
- Bright metallic green plumage
- Blackish-green wings
- Small yellow pectoral patches
- Elongated tail feathers
Male non-breeding
- Brown upperparts
- Green wings and tail
Eclipse Plumage
- Yellow underparts with green flecks
Female
- Brown upperparts
- Dull yellow underparts with some indistinct breast streaking
- Square-ended tail
Juvenile: similar to the female
Distribution
Africa:
Western Africa: occurs only in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, eSwatini
Taxonomy
Photo © by Mustafa Adamjee
Brackenhurst, Limuru, Kenya, 12th August 2019
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- N. f. cupreonitens:
- Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and northern Malawi
- N. f. famosa:
- Mountains of eastern Zimbabwe, Lesotho, western eSwatini and South Africa
Habitat
Bamboo in highland areas, scrubby moorland, forest edges.
Behaviour
Diet
Diet consists mostly of nectar and insects. They have also been recorded as eating small lizards.
Breeding
The nest is an oval shape. The clutch consists of 1-3 dark-blotched greenish eggs, which are incubated by the female for two weeks. The chicks are fed by both parents until fledging.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Cheke, R. & Mann, C. (2020). Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/60019 on 31 January 2020).
- The Website of Everything
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Malachite Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Malachite_Sunbird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
