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As endemics are considered plant and animal species including birds, which are in the focus of this thesis, that are found in a restricted geographic region and nowhere else in the world. Such endemics typically occur on the islands that are often recognized as important global biodiversity hotspots. However, many endemic species are very vulnerable due to numerous factors (mainly genetic and demographic) closely linked to the way of life on the islands. Huge effort is dedicated to their conservation, and it thus reasonable to ask whether such an effort made a significant contribution to prevent their loss. Here, I evaluate the overall success of island bird endemics conservation compared to continental conditions because such a global analysis has been lacking up to now. In addition, this thesis examines how three major threatening factors (namely habitat destruction, invasive species, and overexploitation) driven by anthropogenic activities affect population trends of continental and island bird species. Finally, I mapped and explained, using examples, which conservation tools are effective for supporting the populations of island endemic species. The results of statistical analyses, based on a global dataset containing almost 8000 avian species, showed that island endemic species are more...