News
These newly planted trees will eventually densify forests and provide home for a variety of wildlife species. Today, we wish to let you know more on the Rodrigues Fody (Foudia flavicans), one of the two remaining endemic rodriguan land birds’ species which will benefit from this habitat restoration.
This lovely little passerine can reach 13 cm long when adult. Both the male and the female have brown wings, backs and tails normally. Their beaks are black, short and thick. The male individuals develop distinctive yellowish feathers during the breeding period.
The inquisitive Rodrigues Fody, often seen in pairs or conspicuous vocal flocks, is a largely insectivorous bird that searches for insect prey from ground level up to heights of ten metres off the ground. It moves along branches, carefully inspecting the bark for insects, extracting prey from crevices or on the undersides of leaves and branches, and sometimes hanging upside down as it reaches for its food. Additionally to this insect diet, the Rodrigues Fody feeds on spiders, seeds, some fruits, and also nectar.
Depleted to only 5 or 6 pairs of birds in 1968, the Rodrigues Fody nearly got extinct due to the predation from invasive alien species like rats and cats. Through forests restoration and control of invasive species by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (Rodrigues) and its partners, the species has been able to drastically increase the population to some 20 000 nowadays.
Reference: La faune et la flore de Rodrigues (Stephen Kirsikaye)
