Scientific name: Nectarinia famosa
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.
Here it occurs along the West coast of South Africa bordering on Namibia, extending east through the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province. It occurs in a variety of habitats, ranging from alpine and montane grasslands to scrubby hillsides in mountainous areas, as well as in arid steppes of Namaqualand, riverine thornbush, gardens, parks and alien plantations.
Its diet is mainly made up of nectar supplemented with small Arthropods. It usually forages singly or in pairs, but it may aggregate in groups of over 100 at localised food sources.
