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Updated India Estimates Showed No Clear Trend for Knob-billed Duck

Male knob-billed duck standing in grass in India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for knob-billed duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026 in version 2 of the project’s updated dataset.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at +3.7%, but the uncertainty was too broad to establish a clear long-term increase or decline. The current annual estimate was −0.78% per year and was likewise too uncertain to show a clear recent direction. The species page still displays the carried-over 2023 category Trend Inconclusive for both time scales; these categories were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The modelled Indian distribution range was estimated at 1,037,190 km². State of India’s Birds describes the species as resident, associated with wetlands and non-endemic to India, and retains it in the Low conservation-priority category.

The interim release updated numerical range and trend values for 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 – 2025 interim update (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 previously assessed species using approximately 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025; the assessment categories were unchanged.
  2. SoIB. (2025). State of India’s Birds factsheet: Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos), India.National page displaying the 2025 numerical update: long-term trend +3.70% (−17.31 to +28.04), current annual trend −0.78% (−2.12 to +0.56), distribution range 1,037,190 km² (1,036,641–1,037,739), retained categories Trend Inconclusive for both trends, resident status, wetland specialization, non-endemicity and Low conservation priority.

Image: Manojiritty — male knob-billed duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) photographed in India, 23 August 2015; representative species image for the national trend update, cropped to 16:9 from the original. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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