Malachite sunbird

Malachite sunbird
Male in breeding plumage on pincushion protea
Conservation status
Least Concern(IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Nectariniidae
Genus:	Nectarinia
Species:	N. famosa
Binomial name
Nectarinia famosa (Linnaeus,1766)
Synonyms
Certhia famosaLinnaeus, 1766

Themalachite 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 theFynbos.

Taxonomy

The sunbirds are a group of smallOld Worldpasserinebirds,and are placed within the familyNectariniidae,which is found across Africa, the Middle East and into South-east Asia. Also called green sugarbird.

The malachite sunbird has two subspecies. The nominateN. f. famosaoccurs mainly inSouth Africa,Lesothoand westernEswatini,although its range just extends into southernNamibiaandZimbabwe.N. f. cupreonitensbreeds in the highlands from Ethiopia south to northernMozambique.

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

Male in South Africa

Female feeding

A breeding-plumage male feeding onLeonotisflower nectar.

This largesunbirdis found in hillyfynbos(includingproteastands as well as areas withaloes) 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 maymovedownhill in winter.

This species, like most sunbirds, feeds mainly onnectar,although it will also takeinsects,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 takenectarby hovering like ahummingbird,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 manyAloespecies, such asAloe broomii,Aloe feroxandAloe arborescens,andProteaspecies, such asProtea roupelliaeas well as various other bird-pollinated plants such asLeonotisandStrelitzia.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 berobbed(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 beparasitisedbyKlaas's cuckooorred-chested cuckoo.It is territorial and aggressive when nesting, but highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of over 1,000 birds.

The call is a loudtseep-tseep,and the male malachite sunbird has a twittering song, often accompanied by pointing its head upward and displaying his yellowpectoral tuftswith 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 aseyespotsto deter nocturnal predators.

References

Notes

Sources

• Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton,SASOL Birds of Southern Africa,ISBN1-86872-721-1

External links

• Malachite sunbird -Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.