- 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
- Yellow underparts with green flecks in eclipse plumage
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, Swaziland
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- N. f. cupreonitens:
- N. f. famosa:
- Mountains of eastern Zimbabwe, Lesotho, western Swaziland 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, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2016)
- The Website of Everything
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Malachite Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Malachite_Sunbird
