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White-browed Fantail Index Showed Clear Declines on Both Time Scales in India

White-browed fantail with tail spread on the ground in Masinagudi, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national trend estimates for the white-browed fantail (Rhipidura aureola) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026 from the project’s updated eBird-based dataset.

The long-term numerical estimate was −35.7%, while the current annual trend was −1.6% per year. Both updated national estimates clearly supported a decline. The species page still carries the 2023 national categories Decline for the long-term trend and Trend Inconclusive for the current trend; these labels were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 845,598 km². State of India’s Birds lists the white-browed fantail as resident and an altitudinal migrant, specialized on forest and plantations, non-endemic to India and at Moderate conservation priority.

The interim release updated numerical range and trend estimates for 942 previously assessed species using approximately 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 assessment categories themselves were not recalculated in this 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 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: White-browed Fantail (Rhipidura aureola), Woodland.The Woodland page’s 2025 table displays the India-wide numerical values alongside Woodland estimates: India long-term trend −35.69% (−49.94 to −17.69), current annual trend −1.60% (−3.12 to −0.08), and distribution range 845,598 km² (845,044–846,152). The assessment categories shown at the top of this page refer to Woodland, not the national India values.
  3. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2023). State of India’s Birds factsheet: White-browed Fantail (Rhipidura aureola), India.National 2023 page showing the assessment categories retained through the 2025 numerical update: Decline for the long-term trend and Trend Inconclusive for the current annual trend; Moderate conservation priority.

Image: Anand Osuri / Wikimedia Commons — white-browed fantail in Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu, India, 24 May 2008; 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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