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Sexing Madagascar Red Fody Foudia Madagascariensis in the Non-Breeding Period Paul Koenig BP 104, 407 Antosihihy, Madagascar [email protected]

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Sexing Madagascar Red Fody Foudia Madagascariensis in the Non-Breeding Period Paul Koenig BP 104, 407 Antosihihy, Madagascar Paul.Koenig@Mel.Wanadoo.Mg 14 2005 Sexing Madagascar Red Fody Foudia madagascariensis in the non-breeding period Paul Koenig BP 104, 407 Antosihihy, Madagascar [email protected] Introduction solid red rump and upper tail coverts. Un- der parts red, lighter at belly and under tail The Madagascar Red Fody Foudia coverts. Pink tarsi and toes. Dark grey- madagascariensis, in the family Ploceidae, brown tail. Some individuals may have is widely found all over Madagascar but orangy yellow coloration instead of mostly in savannah regions. This rela- vermillon. tively small passerine barely measures 14 Male non-breeding plumage. Similar to fe- to 15cm long (tail included). During the male. breeding period, males completely change Female. Green brown forehead, front and colour, their plumage becomes red, hence top of head, and nape delicately streaked their beauty and the popularity of the spe- with black. Solid green-brown cheeks, cies. lores, chin and throat, green-yellow super- While endemic to Madagascar, the cilium. Pale brown bill, brown iris. Upper Fody was introduced to different islands in parts green-brown streaked with black, ex- the Indian Ocean such as Mauritius, Sey- cept for uniformly green-brown rump and chelles and Amirantes, Chagos, Rodrigues upper tail coverts. Under parts: greenish and Providence. The species is also found chest and flanks, green-grey belly, yellow- in La Réunion (Barré & Barau1982). How- ish under tail coverts. Pink-grey tarsi and ever, it is not ascertained if it occurred toes. Wings and tail as in breeding plum- naturally there or was introduced there. age. This second hypothesis would be con- firmed by the writings of Dubois as far Immature. Similar to female. back as in the 17th century (Dubois 1674). Some closely related species live on differ- The present work concerns the sexing ent islands of the Indian Ocean. They are of individuals outside the breeding period all described by Sinclair & Langrand (December to May). Previously this was (1998). not possible. This work is particularly ad- dressed to all ornithologists who, for sci- Forest Fody- Foudia omissa, Madagascar entific reasons, have to capture the birds Aldabra Fody- Foudia aldabrana, Aldabra and so work “in the hand”. The basic Mauritius Fody-Foudia rubra,Mauritius plumage descriptions of the 2 sexes within Comoro Fody-Foudia eminentissima, Comoro and outside the breeding period are (from Islands Rodrigue Fody- Foudia flavicans, Rodrigues Langrand 1990): Seychelles Fody- Foudia sechellarum- Seychelles Adult. Sexes differ, plumage varies seasonally. As shown further, this work could also Male breeding plumage. Head vermillon, be used for the sexing of the other spe- except for black lores and triangular patch cies. This was tried for the sexing of Forest behind eyes. Vermillon chin and throat, Fody (Foudia omissa) although on a small conical black bill, brown iris. Upper parts amount of captures (13 individuals). vermillon streaked with black, except for Afring News (2005) 34: 14-16 Afring News 34(1) Koenig: Sexing madagascar Red Fodie 15 Methodology the sexing of adults during the non-breed- ing period, we will examine the length of A certain amount of biometric data was folded wings during the breeding period, taken during the capture, using when males have their red colour and con- Svensson’s methods (1984). Then, an sequently are easily recognized. analysis was undertaken depending on As mentioned above, 387 birds were the season of capture. The results of the trapped from October to May, of which 371 nesting and non-nesting periods were were sexed for certain. This allows sexing compared and are presented hereafter. 73.0% of them throughout the year. 27.0% Biometric data taken into consideration of the captured birds showed overlapping for the analysis: Eye colour, emargination wing lengths. Wing length ranging from of outer web, wing length, head length 64.5 mm to 67 mm will not be valid for sexing (with bill), tarsus length. outside the nesting period (Figure 1). Figure 2 confirms that birds with a wing Results length under 64.5 mm are females, whereas From 2003 to 2005, the number of captures those with wing length above 67 mm are amounts up to 1503 (Table 1). These cap- males. The results show that so far 85.6% tures were in rainforests, dry forest gallery of the birds were sexed for certain. as well as in the savannah in the north- Two other biometric measures were also western parts of Madagascar. used in the attempt to sex the birds all year The two first characteristics (eye colour long. This takes into consideration ele- and emargination of outer web) were not ments during the breeding period, extend- useful in the final analysis. All individuals ing them to the rest of the year. These had brown iris or brown-reddish, regard- measures being: the length of the tarsi and less of sex or age. The emargination of the the head length (skull and bill). Figure 3 outer web is somewhat negligible by age shows that head length is not that relevant or gender. This is due to the emargination whereas the tarsus length allows 65.0% of the 3rd to the 6th primary wing feathers. sexing of individuals. Of 290 controlled individuals, 6 had the 2nd This measure is reliable only in about and 3rd primaries emargined. 79 had the 3rd, 65% of cases. It will only be used in the 4th and 5th primaries and 205 had the 3rd,4th, case that the wing length is not significant 5th and 6th primaries. enough, and only in this case. Wing length was the most obvious. 1252 of the 1503 Madagascar Red Fodies Discussion trapped were measured. This wing length We definitely affirm that it is possible to ranges from 60 to 71 mm. Prior to analysing sex most individuals throughout the year, considering the folded wing length. This method is the only one recommended and Table1. Summary of captures. could eventually be reinforced by taking the tarsus length. As mentioned, this Birds in non-breeding period 1116 method was also used to sex the Forest Females 173 Fody but only for a small quantity of indi- Males 181 viduals (14). There were 8 males and 6 fe- Not sexed 662 males. The males all had a folded wing Birds in breeding period 387 length of 68 to 72 mm while the length for Females 141 the females ranged from 65 to 67 mm. Males 130 We hope that this work allowed another Not sexed 116 approach to sexing the Madagascar Fody which could be used in the future. Hoping Total traps 1503 that this approach will be more precise and Koenig: Sexing madagascar Red Fodie more sure during the non- breeding period. It is, mostly, ringers ornitholo- gists who use the method of capturing birds in order to study them, who might be interested. Hoping this will be helpful to their work. Actually, it might just be interesting to ob- serve if this method can Figure 1. Wing length in breeding season be used for all the other Fody species in the other islands of the Indian ocean. Acknowledgements First and foremost, my thanks go to the helping hands that took me through the fields. Special thanks to Zavasoa Agathe, as well as to Karen Djaozandry for the Figure 2. Wing length through the year translation of this work. Figure 3. Tarsus length Figure 3. Head length Bibliography Barre N. & Barau A. (1982) – Oiseaux de la Réunion. St Denis. 196p. Dubois B. (1674) – Les voyages faits par le Sieur D.B. aux îles Dauphine ou Madagascar et Bourbon ou Mascareine ès années 1669, 1670, 1671 et 1672. Paris. Langrand O. (1990) - Guide to the Birds of Madagascar. Yale University Press. New Haven & Lon- don. 364 p. Morris P. & Hawkins F. (1998) – Birds of Madagascar. A Photographic Guide. Pica Press. 316 p. Sinclair I. & Langrard O. (1998) – Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands. Struik Publishers. Cape Town. 184p. Svensson L. (1984) – Identification Guide of European Passerines. Third edition. Stockholm. 312p..
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