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Large Cuckooshrike Index Showed Clear Long-term Decline in India, While Recent Trend Was Unclear

Indian cuckooshrike perched on a branch in Nepal
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for large cuckooshrike (Coracina macei) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at −57.2% and clearly supported a long-term decline. The current annual estimate was −0.5% per year, but the uncertainty was broad enough that the recent change could not be distinguished clearly from little or no change. The species page retains the 2023 categories Rapid Decline for the long-term trend and Stable for the current annual trend.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 1,194,951 km². State of India’s Birds describes the large cuckooshrike as resident, associated with forest and plantations and endemic to the Indian Subcontinent, and retains it in the Moderate 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). Large Cuckooshrike (Coracina macei) factsheet: 2025 update.Species factsheet reporting a national long-term trend of −57.16% (95% CI −64.49 to −48.41), a current annual estimate of −0.54% (−1.75 to +0.66), and an estimated distribution range of 1,194,951 km².

Image: Krishna Prajapati / Wikimedia Commons — Indian cuckooshrike (Coracina macei) photographed in Nepal, 4 February 2017. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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