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Indian White-eye Index Showed Clear Increases on Both Time Scales in India

Indian White-eye beside an orchid in Nadia, West Bengal, India
Conservation · Population & status

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

The long-term trend was estimated at +38.2%, while the current annual trend was +2.3% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported an increase. The species page still displays the carried-over 2023 category Stable for both trends; these labels were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 1,789,723 km². State of India’s Birds lists the Indian white-eye as a resident, non-specialized and non-endemic species at Low 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: Indian White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), India.National page displaying the 2025 update: long-term trend +38.21% (+21.98 to +54.70), current annual trend +2.33% (+1.33 to +3.33), distribution range 1,789,723 km² (1,789,271–1,790,175), retained categories Stable for both trends, resident status, non-specialized habitat use, non-endemicity and Low conservation priority.

Image: Sudipta Maulik / Wikimedia Commons — Indian white-eye with an orchid in Nadia, West Bengal, India, 30 November 2023; 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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