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Woodland Index for Black-naped Monarch Rose 2.0% Per Year While National Trend Remained Uncertain

Male black-naped monarch perched on a branch in Rabindra Sarobar, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update to State of India’s Birds, released on 6 May 2026, found a positive recent trend for black-naped monarch (Hypothymis azurea) within the study’s woodland habitat subset. The current annual trend there was estimated at +2.0% per year, and the updated woodland estimate clearly supported an increase.

The India-wide numerical estimates were less conclusive. The national long-term trend was −6.5%, while the current annual estimate was +1.5% per year. Uncertainty around both estimates was broad enough that neither showed a clear national direction.

State of India’s Birds classifies the black-naped monarch as a resident and within-India migrant associated with forest and plantation habitats. The updated analysis estimated its national distribution range at 655,785 km². The species remains in the Low conservation-priority category.

The 2025 update used about 48 million eBird observations available through 31 May 2025 and updated numerical estimates for 942 species. The trend values describe change in a reporting-based abundance index rather than direct counts of individual birds. The assessment categories from 2023 were retained.

Sources and image credit

  1. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). State of India’s Birds: Range, trends, and conservation status – 2025 interim update (Version 2) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20036633

Image: Tisha Mukherjee — male black-naped monarch, Rabindra Sarobar, West Bengal, India, 28 January 2025; Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0; representative species image; cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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