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Brown Fish-Owl Index Showed Clear Declines on Both Time Scales in India

Brown fish owl preparing to dive toward a pond
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for brown fish-owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at −39.3%, while the current annual estimate was −3.4% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported a decline.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at about 555,726 km². State of India’s Birds describes brown fish-owl as a resident without clear habitat specialization and retains it in the Moderate conservation-priority category.

The interim release updated numerical range and trend estimates for 942 previously assessed bird species using about 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025. The trend values describe change in a reporting-based abundance index rather than direct counts of individual birds. The numerical values were updated, but the qualitative conservation categories assigned in the 2023 assessment were not recalculated.

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.20036633Primary 2026 release, created 6 May 2026. For Brown Fish-Owl, the India-wide update estimated a long-term change of −39.3% (95% CI −52.7 to −19.9), a current annual trend of −3.4% (−4.5 to −2.4), and a distribution range of about 555,726 km².

Image: Pixel009 / Wikimedia Commons — brown fish-owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) preparing to dive toward a nearby pond in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh, India, 18 March 2025. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC0 1.0 · Source

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