Adorable Female Red Fody Hiding In Leaves

The Red Fody is endemic to Madagascar, but the species has been introduced on several Indian Ocean islands and other locations. The genus Foudia is part of the subfamily Ploceinae in the large family Ploceidae. The species of this genus are all native to the islands of the western Indian Ocean.

The Red Fody occurs throughout Madagascar where it is found in open habitats. It is solitary and territorial during the breeding season, but outside this period, it is very gregarious and forms feeding and roosting flocks.

The species is abundant on the island where it is considered a pest in rice-growing areas, and some control measures are currently active, especially mist-netting at roosts. The Red Fody is not globally threatened.

The Red Fody male in breeding plumage has bright red plumage almost overall. Mantle and scapulars are red with black centres to feathers. Rump and uppertail-coverts are red. Wings and tail feathers are blackish with pale buff fringes.
The underparts are red with often paler belly. The red areas are occasionally replaced by orange or yellow.

Female and non-breeding male have olive-brown upperparts with indistinct central streaks on head and nape. Mantle and back show dark streaking, whereas the rump is uniformly paler. Wings and tail are blackish with broad, creamy-buff fringes, especially on wing-coverts where they may form two pale wingbars.
The underparts are pale greyish-olive with yellow wash, mainly on undertail-coverts.

On the head, the crown is olive-brown. We can see a conspicuous pale buff supercilium, contrasting with darker eye stripe, moustachial stripe and indistinct malar stripe. Ear-coverts and throat are washed yellowish. The bill is horn-coloured.

The Red Fody occurs throughout Madagascar where it is common. However, the species has been introduced on Reunion, Mauritius, Seychelles, Rodrigues, Amirantes and Chagos Islands in Indian Ocean. It is also on St Helena in Atlantic Ocean, and in Bahrain in Arabian Peninsula. The species is present on Glorieuses Islands and Comoro Islands, maybe colonized without human assistance.

The Red Fody frequents a variety of open habitats such as savanna, scrub, areas with scattered trees, forest edges and towns. It does not frequent intact forest in Madagascar.
It roosts in bamboos, tall grasses, reedbeds, sugar cane and mangroves. The species is most common below 1,000 metres, but it has been recorded up to 2,400 metres of elevation.

The Red Fody is primarily a seed-eater, but it also consumes nectar and arthropods. It feeds on rice and grass seeds of various species, taking both rape seeds or when in milky stage. They often feed in huge flocks of hundreds of individuals.

The Red Fody also feeds on arthropods including beetles, caterpillars, moths and spiders.

The nectar is taken from native and exotic plant species. The bird often takes the nectar from the base, after pulling out part of the flower.