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Greater Coucal Index Nearly Doubled Long Term and Continued to Rise Rapidly in India

Greater coucal in Keoladeo National Park, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for greater coucal (Centropus sinensis) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at +98.4%. In practical terms, the reporting-based abundance index was almost twice its earlier level. The current annual estimate was +4.8% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported increases, and the species page retains the 2023 categories Increase for the long-term trend and Rapid Increase for the current annual trend.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 2,433,393 km². State of India’s Birds describes the greater coucal as resident, without clear habitat specialization 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). Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis) factsheet: 2025 update.Species factsheet reporting a national long-term trend of +98.35% (95% CI +81.24 to +116.18), a current annual trend of +4.81% (+4.06 to +5.56), and an estimated distribution range of 2,433,393 km².

Image: Giles Laurent / Wikimedia Commons — greater coucal (Centropus sinensis) photographed in Keoladeo National Park, India, 15 March 2023. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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