• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
• Resources

Taxonomic note
Foudia eminentissima, F. consobrina and F. aldabrana (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as F. eminentissima following Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	8,800 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000-19999 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2016
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.6 years	-	-	-

Population justification: On Mayotte, the population may number 5,000-10,000 individuals (Rocamora 2004), roughly equivalent to 3,333-6,667 mature individuals. With a density of <27 males per km2 on Mohéli, and lower densities on Anjouan (Safford and Louette 2013), the population is suspected to fall in the range of 10,000-19,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: There have likely been declines on Mayotte, but it is not known to what extent these may be affecting populations on Mohéli and Anjouan, and so the population is conservatively retained as stable.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Comoros	extant	native	yes
Mayotte (to France)	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Comoros	Mont Mlédjélé (Mwali highlands)
Comoros	Ndzuani highlands
Mayotte (to France)	Bouéni Bay Mangroves
Mayotte (to France)	Crêtes du Sud Forest Reserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 2200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Passer domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Competition
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus rattus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic species/disease of unknown origin - Eulemur fulvus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic species/disease of unknown origin - Eulemur mongoz	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic species/disease of unknown origin - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Other options	Other threat	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Red-headed Fody Foudia eminentissima. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-headed-fody-foudia-eminentissima on 13/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 13/01/2025.