Seychelles fody juvenile resembles the female and juvenile red fody ("Foudia madagascariensis"), but can be distinguished by having upper parts with less streaking. The Seychelles fody feeds mainly on insects and other small arthropods, as well as eating fruit, nectar and seeds. It has been known to feed on the eggs of seabirds. The diet includes bugs, beetles, ants and spiders. On Cousin, this bird has a clearly defined breeding season, between May and September, after which period it moults. On some other islands it seems to breed throughout the year. It shares the same habitat in the Seychelles with a related
Red fody "Cardinalis Madagascariensis". Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his "Systema Naturae" for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the red fody. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name "Loxia madagascariensis" and cited Brisson's work. This species is now placed in the genus "Foudia" that was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1850. The type species was subsequently