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

Taxonomic note

Foudia delloni (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was described by Cheke and Hume (2008).

 

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
D	D	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Extinct
2016	Extinct
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
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	0 mature individuals	good	estimated	-
Population trend		-	-	-
Generation length	2.81 years	-	-	-

Population justification: No extant population remains.

Trend justification: The exact reason for the species extinction is uncertain, but the species was apparently abundant, occurring in vast numbers and damaging crops (Dubois 1674, Hume 2017). However, Rattus rattus (Black Rats) reached plague proportions on Reunion in 1676 soon after Doubois' (1674) account of the species. Oceanic Foudia are known to be highly susceptible to predation from rats, and their presence likely led to the rapid decline of the population (Hume 2017). Additionally, the species reportedly occupied lowland evergreen forest (Moreau 1960), a habitat type that was extensively cleared (Hume 2017). The species was undoubtedly extinct by the end of the 17th century (Hume 2017).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Réunion (to France)	extinct	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

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 - 300 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Unknown		Unknown		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Unknown		Unknown		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Unknown		Unknown		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus rattus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Reunion Fody Foudia delloni. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/reunion-fody-foudia-delloni on 10/01/2025.
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 10/01/2025.