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We assign conservation values to ecological zones, habitat types, and specific localities of the south Indian district ofUttara Kannada on the basis of occurrence of bird taxa This is a two‐step process, assigning values first to individual bird taxa and second to spatial elements based on the occurrence of birds. The attributes of bird taxa considered are geographical distribution at four levels, habitat preferencq taxonomic position, and degree of endanger‐ment Tbe criteria translating the attributes into values are based on the assumption that the rarer, more taxonomically uniqq or more endangered the taxon, the more valuable it is The conservation value of a given bird taxon is thus a point in a seven‐dimensional space. We reduce this to three dimensions by using internal cowelation and clumping of values. Each spatial element may then be assigned a conservation value based on number of taxa and the total and …