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Thick-billed Flowerpecker Index Showed Clear Declines on Both Time Scales in India

Thick-billed flowerpecker in Saswad, Maharashtra, India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update from State of India’s Birds reported revised national numerical estimates for thick-billed flowerpecker (Pachyglossa agilis) in India. The numerical update was released on 6 May 2026.

The long-term numerical trend was estimated at −56.9%, while the current annual estimate was −3.1% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported a decline. The species page retains the 2023 categories Decline for the long-term trend and Rapid Decline 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 1,031,335 km². State of India’s Birds describes the species as resident, associated with forest and plantations and non-endemic to India, and lists Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha as key states. It retains High conservation priority in the Indian assessment.

The abundance index used by State of India’s Birds is based on how often a species is reported on complete eBird checklists. The interim release updated range and trend estimates for 942 previously assessed bird species using about 48 million observations through 31 May 2025. The index therefore describes change in reporting frequency after the project’s statistical adjustments rather than a direct count of individual birds.

State of India’s Birds lists the species under the older scientific name Dicaeum agile. AviList 2025 places it in the genus Pachyglossa as Pachyglossa agilis.

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. It 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; the 2023 trend categories were not recalculated.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Thick-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum agile) factsheet: 2025 update.Species factsheet reporting the India-wide long-term estimate of −56.85% (95% CI −64.71 to −47.75), current annual estimate of −3.08% (−4.02 to −2.13), estimated distribution range of 1,031,335 km², and High Priority status. The factsheet uses the older scientific name Dicaeum agile.

Image: Tisha Mukherjee / Wikimedia Commons — thick-billed flowerpecker (Pachyglossa agilis) photographed in Saswad, Maharashtra, India, 4 August 2025. Representative species image, not linked to the national trend analysis. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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