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Updated India Index Estimated a 54.6% Long-term Decline for Cotton Pygmy-Goose

Cotton Pygmy-Goose flying over wetland at Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported updated national trend estimates for the cotton pygmy-goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) in India. The revised numerical values were released in May 2026 as part of a dataset based on citizen-science observations submitted to eBird.

The long-term trend was estimated at −54.6%, while the current annual trend was −2.9% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported a decline. The species page still displays the carried-over 2023 categories Rapid Decline for the long-term trend and Decline for the current trend; these categories were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The update estimated the species’ Indian distribution range at 1,241,462 km². State of India’s Birds describes the cotton pygmy-goose as a resident wetland specialist. Its factsheet lists the species as globally Least Concern, under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, and at Moderate conservation priority in India.

The interim release revised numerical distribution and trend estimates for 942 previously assessed Indian bird species using approximately 48 million field observations uploaded to eBird through 31 May 2025. The trend values describe change in a reporting-based abundance index rather than direct counts of individual birds. Conservation-priority categories themselves were not recalculated in this interim update.

Sources and image credit

  1. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). State of India’s Birds: Range, trends, and conservation status (Version 2) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20036633Primary 2026 dataset release created 6 May 2026. Version 2 updated the numerical distribution range size, long-term trend and current annual trend values for 942 previously evaluated species using approximately 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025; the assessment categories were unchanged.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2025). State of India’s Birds factsheet: Cotton Pygmy Goose (Nettapus coromandelianus).Species page displaying the 2025 national update: long-term trend −54.55% (−61.63 to −46.94), current annual trend −2.94% (−3.77 to −2.12), distribution range size 1,241,462 km² (1,240,788–1,242,136), retained categories Rapid Decline and Decline, resident status, wetland specialization, non-endemic status, global Least Concern, Schedule I and Moderate conservation priority.

Image: Prasanna Kumar Mamidala / Wikimedia Commons — cotton pygmy-goose at Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary, Telangana, India, 26 March 2017; cropped to 16:9. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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