The malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) is a small nectivorous bird.
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.
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 and Aloe arborescens, and Protea species, such as Protea roupelliae as well as various other bird-pollinated plants such as Leonotis and Strelitzia.
The call is a loud tseep-tseep, and the male malachite sunbird has a twittering song

Breeding Malachite Sunbird

Mr and Mrs Malachite Sunbird. This species is monogamous
What absolutely gorgeous birds, with that green colour it’s no wonder the malachite colour was used to describe them.
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yes Crazy, the colour is so vibrant :0) thanks *Brigid
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