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Updated India Index Estimated a 3.0% Annual Increase for Spotted Dove

Spotted dove perched on a stump in India
Conservation · Population & status

The 2025 interim update to State of India’s Birds, released on 6 May 2026, estimated that the national abundance index for spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) had increased by an average of 3% per year over the recent assessment period. The updated estimate clearly supported an increase, while the carried-over category for current annual trend remains “Increase”.

The update is based on a substantially enlarged dataset of about 48 million eBird observations from across India, covering records available through 31 May 2025. State of India’s Birds uses frequency of reporting in complete bird lists as an abundance index, so the trend describes change in that index rather than a direct census of individual birds.

The numerical long-term estimate was also strongly positive

For the long-term comparison, the updated numerical estimate placed the spotted dove index 72.5% above the pre-2000 baseline, clearly supporting a long-term increase. The species page nevertheless retains the categorical long-term assessment “Trend Inconclusive” because the interim update did not recalculate the earlier categories.

This difference reflects how the 2025 interim update was produced. The new version recalculated the numerical values for long-term trend, current annual trend and distribution range using the larger dataset and an updated uncertainty procedure, while the categorical assessments from the earlier report were not changed.

A very large estimated range in India

The updated analysis estimated the spotted dove’s Indian distribution range at 2,246,884 km², which State of India’s Birds classifies as very large. The species remains in the report’s low conservation-priority category and is globally listed as least concern.

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 interim release, created 6 May 2026; numerical DRS, LTT and CAT values updated for 942 species using 48 million eBird observations through 31 May 2025.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) factsheet: 2025 update.India-wide 2025-update values: LTT +72.5% (95% CI +52.79 to +94.57), CAT +2.98%/year (95% CI +1.88 to +4.08), DRS 2,246,884 km²; CAT category Increase and LTT category Trend Inconclusive.
  3. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Interpreting State of India’s Birds results.Methodological guidance for interpreting the abundance index and the 2025 numerical update.

Image: Spotted dove perched on a stump in India. Photo: David V. Raju / Wikimedia Commons. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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