The malachite sunbird is a nectar-feeding bird of highland grassland, fynbos, and montane scrub across southern and eastern Africa. The breeding male is unmistakable, with brilliant metallic-green plumage and elongated central tail feathers; total body length reaches about 25 cm, while females are smaller and drab brown. Using a long down-curved bill and brush-tipped tongue, it works tubular red and orange flowers and is a documented pollinator of aloes, Leonotis, and other long-tubed African plants, foraging widely at red-hot pokers (Kniphofia), watsonias, and bird-of-paradise. In gardens within its range it provides genuine pollination service to many indigenous and ornamental plants.

Plants this species pollinates · 2

Nectar plants · 4

Resident in highland regions from Ethiopia and Eritrea south through Kenya and Tanzania to South Africa, Lesotho, and southern Namibia, in two subspecies.