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Rufous Treepie Index Rose Long Term but Declined More Recently in India

Rufous treepie perched in a leafy tree in Ranthambore National Park, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for rufous treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at +47.9% and clearly supported an increase, while the current annual estimate was −0.77% per year and clearly supported a more recent decline. The updated results therefore point in opposite directions across the two time scales: long-term growth followed by a recent downturn. The species page still carries the 2023 categories Trend Inconclusive for the long-term trend and Stable for the current annual trend because these qualitative categories were not recalculated from the 2025 numerical estimates.

The species’ modelled distribution range in India was estimated at 2,125,058 km². State of India’s Birds describes the rufous treepie 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.

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). Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) factsheet: 2025 update.National factsheet reporting a long-term numerical estimate of +47.88% (95% CI +32.49 to +63.51), a current annual estimate of −0.77% (−1.41 to −0.13), and an estimated distribution range of 2,125,058 km². The factsheet labels the long-term trend Trend Inconclusive and the current annual trend Stable.

Image: © Giles Laurent, gileslaurent.com / Wikimedia Commons — rufous treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) in Ranthambore National Park, India, 17 March 2023. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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