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Little Ringed Plover Index Showed Clear Declines on Both Time Scales in India

Little ringed plover in Bakkhali, West Bengal, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for little ringed plover (Thinornis dubius) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at −50%, while the current annual estimate was −3.2% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported a decline.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 1,633,443 km². State of India’s Birds describes the little ringed plover as both resident and a winter migrant, associated with open habitats and non-endemic to India, and identifies Chhattisgarh as a key state. The species retains High conservation priority in the Indian assessment.

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 conservation categories from 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 Little Ringed Plover, the India-wide update estimated a long-term change of −50.0% (95% CI −55.7 to −43.2), a current annual trend of −3.2% (−3.8 to −2.6), and a distribution range of about 1,633,443 km².

Image: Tisha Mukherjee / Wikimedia Commons — little ringed plover (Thinornis dubius) photographed in Bakkhali, West Bengal, India, 15 February 2026. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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