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Updated India Estimates Showed No Clear Trend for Black-hooded Oriole

Black-hooded oriole at Marayoor Sandal Reserve, Kerala, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical estimate was +14.8%, while the current annual estimate was +1.6% per year. In both cases, however, the uncertainty was broad enough that the data could not distinguish a clear increase or decline. The species page retains the 2023 category Stable for both time scales.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 942,294 km². State of India’s Birds describes the black-hooded oriole as resident and a local migrant, associated with forest and plantations and non-endemic to India, and retains it in the Low 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 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. The update recalculated numerical distribution range size, long-term trend and current annual trend values for 942 species using about 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) factsheet: 2025 update.Species factsheet reporting a national long-term estimate of +14.79% (95% CI −6.17 to +42.34), a current annual estimate of +1.60% (−0.26 to +3.46), and an estimated distribution range of 942,294 km².

Image: Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons — black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) photographed at Marayoor Sandal Reserve, Kerala, India, 13 November 2017. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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