Red-headed Fody Foudia eminentissima Scientific name definitions

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Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

13 cm. Male nominate race breeding has forehead, crown, nape, chin, throat, chest, cheeks and ear-coverts scarlet-red; lores black, eyestripe extending behind eye to variable degree; mantle and back blackish with olive-grey feather fringes, lower rump and uppertail-coverts scarlet; upperwing and tail dark olive-green, remiges and rectrices with yellowish margins; flanks and thighs grey, belly and undertail-coverts whitish with dull buffy tinge, some scarlet tips on central belly feathers; iris brown; bill black; legs dull brown to fleshy pink. Female and non-breeding male have forehead to back dull olive-green with darker central streaks on feathers (streaks tending to be more prominent on male), rump plain olive-green; wings and tail dark olive-green, remiges and rectrices with narrow yellowish margins; buffy supercilium extending behind eye; cheeks and ear-coverts dull buff; chin and throat to undertail-coverts dull white, flanks and thighs greyish; iris brown; bill horn-coloured, mandible paler; legs dull brown to fleshy pink. Juvenile resembles female. Races differ mainly in size, and in details of male breeding plumage: anjuanensis is similar in size and bill shape to nominate, orange in colour on head and rump, coloration often extending to breast and belly, some orange wash on mantle, greater and especially median upperwing-coverts have pale fringing broader, forming wingbars; algondae is smaller than nominate with less robust bill, orange on head and rump, coloration not extending so far onto nape, dorsally very plain-coloured, lacking contrast of dark central streaks on mantle feathers, wingbars as previous.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

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Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Forested areas, habitat choice varying somewhat among islands; on Mayotte not found in intact stands of evergreen forest (although perhaps did use such habitat formerly), but instead occupies agricultural areas, town gardens, dry coastal forest and scrub, old coconut (Cocos nucifera) plantations with Lantana camara undergrowth, and edges of mangroves. On Anjouan not found below 300 m; on Mohéli, where occurs up to island’s central ridge, and Mayotte found close to sea-level; on latter was formerly present up to 900 m, but seems to have disappeared from this area in recent decades.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Resident. Patchy distribution on Mayotte and apparent genetic differentiation of subgroups no more than 30 km apart suggest very limited dispersal.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Insects and fruit, but diet is only really known from stomach contents, which have included vegetable matter (probably all fruit and seeds), beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), ant pupae and spiders (Araneae). Grit has also regularly been found in stomachs. Communal roosts may include F. madagascariensis.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Some evidence of insular dialects. Song usually only given in breeding season, but occasionally at other times by birds in non-breeding plumage. On Mohéli gives a flat, medium-pitched, usually slightly disyllabic “chiup” or “chep”, which can sometimes be extended into an even-pitched trill, with 1–2-second pauses between phrases. On Anjouan: territorial song (given by male from treetop) is a deliberate far-carrying “ch-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, pya, pya, pya, pya, pya, pya”; while foraging gives a repeated “tiry-ry” (3–4 times). On Mayotte, calls are reported to be like those on Mohéli, but have also been described as a shrill “tsik” or “tsiik”, or more rolling “tsiiuu”, repeated for long periods at c. 1-second intervals, sometimes in a song phrase “twiderit-twiderit-twiderit-twiderit-”, followed by a single trill, or series of trills, “psuderiiit”.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Breeds Sept–Apr. Monogamous and territorial. Nest a globular structure with side entrance, but no tube and usually has a porch sheltering entrance, sometimes moss highly prevalent in construction. Clutch c. 3 eggs, pale blue-green, occasionally few black specks, size 19·8 × 15·2 mm (Anjouan); no further information.

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Restricted-range species: present in Comoro Islands EBA. Reasonably common and numbers are believed to be stable. Population on Mayotte estimated at 5000–10,000 birds (where dry forests of Sazilé Peninsula a stronghold, but require some restorative work), and species’ overall population estimated at 10,000–20,000 mature individuals. Has disappeared from island of Petit-Terre (Mayotte), where last seen in early 1990s. Density of < 27 males per km² on Mohéli, perhaps lower on Anjouan (where believed to be uncommon) and on Mayotte 42–100 males per km². On individual islands, vulnerable to drastic habitat changes. May be affected by nest predation by species such as black rat (Rattus rattus, throughout), brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus, Mayotte) and mongoose lemur (E. mongoz, Mohéli and Anjouan). Native predators include Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba) and Frances’s Sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae). Additionally, cyclones, mangrove destruction, disease, poisoning and competition with introduced House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) may be an issue for this species, particularly on Mayotte

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: confined to a single island in Comoro Islands EBA. Population believed to number between 10,000 and 20,000 mature individuals. Suspected to be declining as a result of invasive nest predators. Its population size is currently suspected to be sufficiently large to not warrant the species to be listed as threatened, but it may approach this threshold. A protected area (national park, biosphere reserve or resource management area) on Mt Karthala has been proposed, but has yet to be implanted.