The authors present a survey of the avifauna of Franz‐Josef Land based in part on fieldwork during VNIIPriroda's expedition of 1980–81 which concentrated especially on Hooker and Graham Bell islands, and in part on a thorough literature review. They focus especially on species distribution and on the dates of arrival, nest‐building, egg‐laying, hatching, etc. for each species. They conclude that 37 or 38 species have been recorded from the archipelago, that 14 species nest there, and that one species, the rock ptarmigan, is probably a permanent resident. With regard to the need for conservation, they stress that the archipelago contains the largest nesting colonies of ivory gulls in the USSR, as well as over 60 major cliff colonies of birds such as little auks, Brunnich's guillemots, black guillemots, fulmars, and kittiwakes.