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 petrography), it may become transparent even if that property is not seen in a hand sample. In contrast, some minerals, such as hematite or pyrite, are opaque even in thin-section. Colour is the most obvious property of a mineral, but it is often non-diagnostic. It is caused by electromagnetic radiation interacting with electrons (except in the case of incandescence, which does not apply to minerals). Two broad classes of elements (idiochromatic and allochromatic) are defined with regards to their contribution to a mineral's colour: Idiochromatic elements are essential to a mineral's composition; their contribution to a mineral's colour is diagnostic.