Malachite sunbird Malachite sunbird The malachite sunbird ("Nectarinia famosa") is a small nectarivorous bird found from the highlands of Ethiopia southwards to South Africa. The pollinate many flowering plants, particularly those with long corolla tubes, in the Fynbos. The sunbirds are a group of small Old World passerine birds, and are placed within the family Nectariniidae, 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, Lesotho and western Swaziland, although its range just extends into southern Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Mineral or red in hand sample, but has a cherry-red to reddish-brown streak. Streak is more often distinctive for metallic minerals, in contrast to non-metallic minerals whose body colour is created by allochromatic elements. Streak testing is constrained by the hardness of the mineral, as those harder than 7 powder the "streak plate" instead. By definition, minerals have a characteristic atomic arrangement. Weakness in this crystalline structure causes planes of weakness, and the breakage of a mineral along such planes is termed cleavage. The quality of cleavage can be described based on how cleanly and easily the mineral breaks; common descriptors,