Bird censuses in two wetland habitats (bogs and wet meadows) in SW Sweden were used to test the applicability of five conservation indices suggested for birds. The censused sites were first evaluated and ranked by the authors, then ranked according to each of the indices. Two indices based on species diversity  showed a poor agreement with our evaluation; we suggest that they should not be used for ranking of sites of ornithological interest. Three indices based on rarity showed a better agreement with our evaluation, but were influenced by the size of the geographical area for which rarity was assessed. None of the five indices takes into account all of the relevant aspects for an evaluation of the bird fauna at the different sites. Before constructing further indices, conservationists must reach agreement on which evaluation criteria to use, and how to use them. It may, however, not be feasible to construct a single index; a better strategy might be to construct indices only for single evaluation criteria.