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Updated India Index Estimated a 64.6% Long-term Increase for Red-wattled Lapwing

Red-wattled lapwing standing in shallow water in Nepal
Conservation · Population & status

An interim update to State of India’s Birds estimated a strong positive national trend for red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus). The trend measure is a reporting-based abundance index derived from how often the species appears in complete eBird lists, not a direct count of individual birds. The update was released on 6 May 2026 and recalculated numerical distribution and trend estimates using 48 million eBird observations from across India through 31 May 2025.

For red-wattled lapwing, the updated national long-term trend was +64.6%. The current annual trend was estimated at +2.5% per year. Both updated estimates clearly supported an increase.

The estimates are based on an abundance index

The long-term value compares the 2024/25 abundance index with the baseline before 2000, while the current annual trend is the average annual change from 2015/16 to 2024/25. The two measures therefore describe change over different time scales.

The updated estimated distribution range for red-wattled lapwing was about 2.52 million km², reflecting the species’ broad occurrence across India.

More data changed the numerical estimates, not the categories

The 2025 interim update used substantially more data than the 2023 assessment: 48 million observations rather than 30 million, together with an improved approach to estimating uncertainty and a more robust subsampling procedure.

However, State of India’s Birds explicitly left the existing distribution, long-term-trend, current-trend and conservation-priority categories unchanged in this interim release. Red-wattled lapwing therefore remained in the previously assigned low conservation-priority category even though the underlying numerical estimates were updated.

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.
  2. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) factsheet: 2025 update.India-wide LTT +64.61% (95% CI +46.04 to +87.34), CAT +2.51%/year (95% CI +1.38 to +3.65), DRS 2,522,674 km².
  3. State of India’s Birds Partnership. (2026). Interpreting SoIB results.Method guidance for abundance-index trends and uncertainty.

Image: Umang Jung Thapa — representative red-wattled lapwing photographed in Nepal. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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