Birds of Mayotte

 

Mayotte Post  issued a set of four stamps features birds species on September 21, 2012. The issues are depicting birds of Mayotte , i.e: Souimanga, Drongo, Faudy,  and Oiseau-lunette.

Souimanga

The Souimanga Sunbird (Cinnyris sovimanga) is a small passerine bird of the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. 

 

The Souimanga Sunbird is 10 cm long with a wingspan of 13 cm.The black bill is long, thin and curved. It is native to the islands of the western Indian Ocean where it occurs on Madagascar, the Aldabra Group and the Glorioso Islands.

Males of the nominate subspecies have a metallic green head, back and throat. The breast is blackish with a more or less continuous red band while the belly is yellow and the wings and tail are brown. There are yellow tufts at the sides of the breast which become visible when the birds lift their wings in courtship display

 

 

Drongo

The drongos are a family of small passerine birds of the Old World tropics, the Dicruridae.

The name is originally from the indigenous language of Madagascar, where it refers to local species, but is now used to refer to all members of the family.

These insectivorous birds are found in usually open forests or bush. Most are black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails, and some Asian species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched, like a shrike. 

Oiseau-lunette

Oiseau-lunette is endemic to La Réunion is protected. This species has specific   glasses on white plumage olive green. Noisy, it constantly emits a whistling short monosyllabic. 

 

 

 

They  are living in a couple, very mobile and very sociable, and  attacks all intruders and in particular congeners or White Bird. They lives in forest high on the island. They feeds on nectar and season it also shows amateur pulpy fruit and insects.

 

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Foudy

Fodies are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Foudia in the weaver family Ploceidae. The birds are 12 to 15 centimetres long and have short, conical bills.

They are native to the islands of the western Indian Ocean where they occur on Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoro Islands and the Mascarene Islands. 

 

Males in breeding plumage are usually colourful with bright red or yellow on the head and sometimes elsewhere. Non-breeding males and females are dull, sparrow-like birds with mostly grey-brown plumage.

Fodies are typically found in forest, woodland or scrubland but some also occur in man-made habitats. Some species feed mainly on seeds while others are largely insectivorous.

Fodies build a dome-shaped nest of grass and other plant material. It has a side-opening and it is suspended from a branch or palm leaf.