Rodrigues Fody

Open encyclopedia reference

The Rodrigues fody (Foudia flavicans) is a rare species of bird in the weaver family. It is endemic to Rodrigues, an island of Mauritius. It is classified by BirdLife International as being vulnerable. It is also on the United States' Endangered Species List with an endangered status. This bird is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long. It is yellow with an orange face and brown back, wings, and tail. The bird can be found in the canopy at heights of at least 5 metres (16 ft), and sometimes travels in flocks. It may be associated with the Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and some introduced species of plants. More birds are found in areas with more dense stands of taller trees and higher diversity of tree species. It feeds on insects, spiders, seeds, nectar, and fruit. Once abundant on the island, the bird was nearly driven to extinction with only 5 or 6 pairs remaining by 1968. Due to conservation efforts its numbers rose to between 911 and 1200 individuals by the year 1999.

Wikipedia contributors, Rodrigues fody; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:07:38.841674+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Foudia flavicans A. Newton, 1865

Name authority

A. Newton, 1865

Common name

Rodrigues Fody

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Ploceidae

Genus

Foudia

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyPloceidae Sundevall, 1836
11. genusFoudia Reichenbach, 1850
12. speciesFoudia flavicans A. Newton, 1865

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Foudia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 96 records assigned to Ploceidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=560111 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6JK7H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.