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Thirty-four species of birds are recorded from the isolated Pacific island of Nauru. Six are treated as hypothetical pending corroboration; 3 others are introductions. Eighteen of the 25 indigenous species are non-breeding visitors (mainly migrating seabirds and shorebirds). The 7 confirmed or probable resident breeders include only 2 land birds, the Micronesian pigeon (Ducula oceanica) and the endemic Nauru reed-warbler (Acrocephalus rehsei). The Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) and white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) are reported as first records for Nauru. Hunting pressure and habitat degradation have contributed to reduced numbers of the Micronesian pigeon and the once abundant black noddy (Anous minutus), but the Nauru reed-warbler occurs commonly in degraded and modified habitats. Second-stage mining to recover phosphate deposits will likely reduce available habitat further for all resident breeding species, although land restoration is also planned. Bird band recoveries indicate that many seabirds, especially black noddies, reach Nauru thousands of kilometres from where they were fledged, but to what extent they are recruited into the local breeding population is unknown.