Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) on a Red-hot Poker at the top of Sani Pass in the country of Lesotho. The resident Malachite Sunbird range is in southern Africa at altitudes up to 2,800 meters. One reference said that Kruger National Park was the best place to see Nectarinia famosa but we saw none there. Females are up to 15 cm in length while the males are up to 25 cm (10 inches) long. The birds are monogamous with the female building a nest of grass and leaves that is bound together with spider web on a drooping branch. Two eggs are incubated for 2 weeks and the chicks are ready to leave the nest 3 weeks after they hatch. When these birds are not breeding flocks of more than 1,000 birds have been seen. Their diet is both nectar and insects. They sometimes hover like a hummingbird when taking nectar from some species of Aloe and Protea plants.