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Updated Indian Roller Trend Estimated a 41.5% Long-term Decline Across India

Indian roller perched on a leafy branch in Tamil Nadu, India
Conservation · Population & status

A 2026 update to the State of India’s Birds assessment estimated that the national abundance index for indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) had declined by 41.5% over the long term. This index is based on changes in how often the species appears in complete eBird lists rather than on a direct count of individual birds. The same update estimated a current annual trend of −3.8%.

The State of India’s Birds Partnership released the updated numerical results on 6 May 2026. Although the update is labelled “2025” because the underlying observation window runs through 31 May 2025, the revised dataset itself was first published online in 2026.

Forty-eight million observations fed into the update

The interim update recalculated distribution range size, long-term trend and current annual trend for 942 Indian bird species using around 48 million observations uploaded to eBird from across the country. For indian roller, the updated national long-term trend was −41.5%. The larger observation base allowed the partnership to update the numerical estimate without changing what the index represents.

The long-term trend covers more than 25 years of change, while the current annual trend describes the more recent period since 2015. For Indian roller, the current annual trend was estimated at −3.8% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported decline.

The numerical estimates changed, not the conservation categories

The 2026 release was explicitly an interim numerical update rather than a new full assessment. The partnership states that it updated the numerical values for distribution range size, long-term trend and current annual trend, while leaving the previously assigned trend categories unchanged.

Indian roller therefore remains in the moderate conservation-priority category used by State of India’s Birds. Its global IUCN status is Near Threatened, and the species is protected under Schedule II of India’s Wild Life (Protection) Act.

A very large range does not rule out decline

The updated analysis estimated the indian roller’s distribution range in India at about 2.30 million square kilometres. State of India’s Birds classifies this as a very large range, but evaluates range size separately from changes in abundance. A species can therefore remain widespread while becoming less numerous within that range.

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; updated numerical DRS, LTT and CAT values for 942 species from 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) factsheet: 2025 update.Species factsheet reporting long-term trend −41.52%, current annual trend −3.77%, range size 2,295,784 km² and unchanged conservation categories.

Image: Gowthaman k.a — Indian roller photographed at Walayar, Tamil Nadu, India. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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