List of birds of India

This is a list of the bird species of India and includes extant and recently extinct species recorded within the political limits of the Republic of India as defined by the Indian government. There have been 1377 species recorded as of 2023,[1] of which 81 are endemic to the country.[1] 212 species are globally threatened.[2] The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is the national bird of India.[3] This list does not cover species in Indian jurisdiction areas such as Dakshin Gangotri and oceanic species are delineated by an arbitrary cutoff distance. The list does not include fossil bird species or escapees from captivity.

This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of the IOC World Bird List, version 13.1. This list also uses British English throughout. Any bird names or other wording follows that convention.

The following tags have been used to highlight several categories. The commonly occurring native species do not fit within any of these categories.

  • (V) Vagrant - Also known as a rarity, it refers to a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in India-typically less than ten confirmed records.
  • (E) Endemic - a species endemic to India
  • (Ex) Extirpated - a species that no longer occurs in India although populations exist elsewhere


  1. ^ a b Lepage, Denis (24 August 2021). "Checklist of Birds of India". Avibase bird checklists of the world. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  2. ^ Manakadan, Ranjit; Khan, Asif N. (March 2020). "Birds of the Indian Subcontinent—In a Nutshell". Buceros. 24 (2 & 3). BNHS-ENVIS.
  3. ^ "National bird of India". Know India. Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2007.