Madagascar weavers
| Madagascar weavers | ||||||||||||
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Madagascar weaver ( Foudia madagascariensis ) male in plain dress |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Foudia madagascariensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The Madagascar weaver ( Foudia madagascariensis ) is a species from the family of weaver birds (Ploceidae) and the most common bird in Madagascar . It lives in almost all regions of the island, in agricultural areas, in savannahs, in cities and in the thorn bush forest in the southwest. He only seems to avoid dense forests. In the mountains it goes at heights of up to 2450 meters. The adaptable weaver bird was introduced by humans to the Comoros , Réunion , Mauritius , Rodrigues, the Seychelles , the Chagos Archipelago , the Amiranten and St. Helena in the South Atlantic. Outside the breeding season, the birds live in large flocks.
features
In the Madagascar weavers, males and females have a different appearance. Females and young birds have a simple olive-brown plumage, a horn-colored beak and resemble a sparrow. Male birds are orange or yellow with olive-brown wing coverts and tail feathers. They turn bright red during the breeding season. Their beak is black. The birds are approximately 12.5 centimeters long and 14 to 19 grams in weight.
Reproduction
Madagascar weavers breed from September to May. They then give up their social life, form pairs and the males defend a territory with a radius of about 20 meters. They build their nests up to a height of 8 meters in tall grass, bushes, in trees or on the central ribs of palm leaves. The clutch consists of three (2–4) eggs. Only the female breeds. The young hatch after 11 to 14 days and leave the nest after 15 to 16 days. Both parents take part in the feeding. Captive birds had up to three broods in four months, so it is believed that wild animals breed at least twice in a season.
nutrition
Madagascar weavers feed on all kinds of seeds, e.g. B. of millet ( Panicum ) or pennon cleaner grasses ( Pennisetum ), as well as insects , spiders and flower nectar. In areas where rice is grown, they mainly eat this type of grain. They invade the fields in flocks of hundreds of birds and cause great crop damage.
literature
- AJFK Craig: Foudia madagascariensis, Madagascar Fody, Fody, Fodimena, in Steven M. Goodman, Jonathan P. Benstead, Harald Schütz: The Natural History of Madagascar , University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-30307-1
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Foudia madagascariensis in the Internet Bird Collection
- Foudia madagascariensis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2014.