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Rufous-tailed Lark Index Showed Clear Declines on Both Time Scales in India

Rufous-tailed lark in Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for rufous-tailed lark (Ammomanes phoenicura) 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 −70.7%, while the current annual estimate was −4.3% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported a decline. The species page still displays the carried-over 2023 category Rapid Decline for both the long-term and current annual trends; these categories were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The modelled Indian distribution range was estimated at 1,165,577 km². State of India’s Birds describes the species as resident, associated with open habitats and restricted to the Indian Subcontinent, identifies Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana among its key states, and retains it in the High 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: Rufous-tailed Lark (Ammomanes phoenicura), India.National page displaying the 2025 numerical update: long-term trend −70.73% (−76.26 to −64.11), current annual trend −4.25% (−5.19 to −3.32), distribution range 1,165,577 km² (1,165,001–1,166,153), retained categories Rapid Decline for both trends, resident status, open-habitat specialization, Indian-Subcontinent endemicity and High conservation priority.

Image: Shiv's fotografia / Wikimedia Commons — rufous-tailed lark (Ammomanes phoenicura) photographed in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, on 30 January 2021. Representative species image; not a bird from the trend dataset. Original composition used without a manual crop. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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