Réunion fody Réunion fody The Réunion fody ("Foudia delloni") is an extinct bird species from the family of weavers. It was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion. This bird was first mentioned in a report by traveller Gabriel Dellon and a second time in 1674 by Dubois. The species, of which no museum specimen exist was formally described as new species by Anthony Cheke and Julian Pender Hume in the Book "Lost Land of the Dodo" in 2008. The Réunion fody reached roughly the size of a house sparrow. The head, neck, throat and the wing underparts of the breeding male
Réunion fody were bright red. Back and tail were brown. The belly was pale. The head of the females and the juvenile males was brown. Neck and wings were red. The throat was pale brown. The Réunion fody was once described as abundant and as pest that destroyed entire crops. It was last seen shortly after 1672. The reason for its extinction might be the predation by rats. A type of fody on Réunion was previously mentioned as "Foudia bruante" by Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller in the work "Planches Enluminées" in 1776. But after a hypothesis by Cheke and Hume "Foudia bruante"