The malachite sunbird (''Nectarinia famosa'') is a small nectarivorous bird found from the highlands of Ethiopia southwards to South Africa. They pollinate many flowering plants, particularly those with long corolla tubes, in the
Fynbos.
Taxonomy
The sunbirds are a group of small
Old World passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s, and are placed within the family
Nectariniidae
Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly ...
, which is found across Africa, the Middle East and into South-east Asia. Also called green sugarbird.
The malachite sunbird has two subspecies. The nominate ''N. f. famosa ''occurs mainly in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
Lesotho and western
Eswatini, although its range just extends into southern
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
and
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
. ''N. f. cupreonitens'' breeds in the highlands from Ethiopia south to northern
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
.
Description
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.
Habitat
![Nectarinia famosa female](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Nectarinia_famosa_female.jpg)
This large
sunbird
Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly ...
is found in hilly
fynbos (including
protea
''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos'').
Etymology
The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form a ...
stands as well as areas with
aloes) and cool montane and coastal scrub, up to 2,800m altitude in South Africa. It also occurs in parks and gardens (often nesting within those located in the Highveld). It is resident, but may
move
Move may refer to:
People
* Daniil Move (born 1985), a Russian auto racing driver
Brands and enterprises
* Move (company), an online real estate company
* Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer
* Daihatsu Move
Go ...
downhill in winter.
This species, like most sunbirds, feeds mainly on
nectar, although it will also take
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s, especially when feeding young. This sunbird may hunt in a similar manner to a flycatcher, hawking for insect prey from a perch.
Most sunbird species can take
nectar by hovering like a
hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. As a fairly large sunbird, the malachite sunbird is no exception. They have long thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to nectar feeding. Some plant species from which malachite sunbirds feed include many ''Aloe'' species, such as ''
Aloe broomii'', ''
Aloe ferox
''Aloe ferox'', commonly known as bitter aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. This woody aloe is indigenous to southern Africa.
It is one of several ''Aloe'' species used to make bitter aloes, a purgative medicatio ...
'' and ''
Aloe arborescens
''Aloe arborescens'', the krantz aloe or candelabra aloe, is a species of flowering succulent perennial plant that belongs to the genus ''Aloe'', which it shares with the well known and studied ''Aloe vera''. The specific epithet ''arborescens'' ...
'', and ''Protea'' species, such as ''
Protea roupelliae
''Protea roupelliae'' is a species of ''Protea'' in the large family Proteaceae, and was named to commemorate Arabella Elizabeth Roupell (1817-1914) who spent two years in Cape Town and painted local flowers for her own pleasure. This species ...
'' as well as various other bird-pollinated plants such as ''
Leonotis
''Leonotis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón ...
'' and ''
Strelitzia''.
It has been suggested that their behaviour of guarding flowering plants may have led to the selection and evolution of long-tubed flowers that would otherwise tend to be
robbed (nectar taken but not pollinated) by short-billed sunbird species.
Breeding and behaviour
This species is monogamous.
The oval nest is usually suspended, as with most sunbirds, or constructed inside a bush. The female incubates one to three dark-blotched, greenish eggs for two weeks. The chicks are fed by both parents until fledging time, and the chicks will for a time return to the nest to roost. The malachite sunbird is often double-brooded, and may be
parasitised by
Klaas's cuckoo or
red-chested cuckoo
The red-chested cuckoo (''Cuculus solitarius'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is a medium-sized bird found in Africa south of the Sahara. In Afrikaans, it is known as "Piet-my-vrou", after its call.
Description
The red-ches ...
. It is territorial and aggressive when nesting, but highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of over 1,000 birds.
The call is a loud ', and the male malachite sunbird has a twittering song, often accompanied by pointing its head upward and displaying his yellow with his wings half open. Males also have an elaborate display flight. It was found that male birds display their pectoral tufts almost continuously throughout the night, whilst asleep, and one hypothesis is that these function as
eyespots to deter nocturnal predators.
References
;Notes
;Sources
* Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'',
External links
* Malachite sunbird
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1300638
malachite sunbird
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
Birds of East Africa
Birds of Southern Africa
malachite sunbird
malachite sunbird