Species on islands are more vulnerable to extinction than those on continents because besides factors such as the small population size of island species and lower chances for immigration or recolonisation of islands, they have usually evolved in isolation in a less complex ecosystem (e.g., with fewer predators, diseases and competitors), and therefore cannot face the multiple threats caused by humans. Many birds endemic to islands have gone extinct due to habitat loss, introduced diseases and introduced species (Pimm et al. 1995). Developing biodiversity inventories and monitoring changes in fauna can help to identify rare and threatened species, and those with declining populations. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which lie off mainland India, have a rich biota which is facing serious threats due to increasing human pressure and developmental activities (Whitaker 1985; Saldanha 1989; Pande et al. 1991; Davidar et al. 1995). Therefore, documentation of the distributional patterns of species will provide information that can be used for immediate conservation action and for monitoring species over time. In this study, we provide information on the patterns of bird distribution in the Andaman Islands and interpret the results in the light of conservation priorities. Pioneering surveys conducted by Abdulali (1964, 1981) on the avifauna of Andaman and Nicobar Islands helped to set up the foundation for more detailed assessments. Ripley and Beehler (1989) analysed the avifauna from an ornithogeographical perspective and listed 104 species of breeding birds. These include 18 endemic species and 86 endemic races. Davidar et al. (1995, 1996, 2001 and 2002) and Devy et al. (1998) conducted ecological surveys of forest birds and butterflies in the Andaman group in the 1990s. They showed that there is a latitudinal gradient in habitat diversity, with the southernmost islands in the Andaman group having a higher proportion of evergreen forests than the northern islands. They demonstrated that island size and the presence of evergreen forests significantly influenced species richness. The larger islands had more species, and rarer species, than did small islands. The avifauna of smaller islands was a nested subset of those on larger islands. Therefore, they suggested that conservation efforts should be focused on protecting forests on large islands, and evergreen forests in particular should be prioritised for conservation efforts. An ornitho-geographic analysis on the Andaman and Nicobar avifauna was conducted by Ripley and Beehler (1989), who concluded that the avifauna of the Andamans were predominantly allied to that of Myanmar, whereas the Nicobar avifauna was a subset of the avifauna of the Andaman Islands. In this study, we present a preliminary island-wise inventory of the avifauna of the Andaman Islands, with particular emphasis on forest birds. We assessed the proportion of islands on which each species was distributed with regard to island size, location and the smallest island on which it was recorded. We also assessed whether the distribution patterns of foraging guilds differed with regard to island size and location.