The Talhado do Sao Francisco Natural Monument is located within the mesoregion of the lower Sao Francisco River, in the Brazilian states of Alagoas, Sergipe, and Bahia. Data were collected at six study sites during field campaigns of three months' duration. Visual surveys were conducted in areas of arboreal caatinga and at local aquatic environments. Specimens were also captured using 20 ornithological mist-nets, which were set in the early part of the morning. A total of 190 species were recorded, with estimated total species richness of 204 +/- 8 (CHAO2) and 208 +/- 4 species (Jack1). The families represented by the largest numbers of species were Tyrannidae, Accipitridae, Emberizidae, and Thraupidae. Five of the species were classified as caatinga endemics, while a further 29 species were considered to be typical of the Brazilian Northeast, or representatives of distinct subspecies. Overall, 187 species were classified as residents, Falco peregrinus and Tringa solitaria as migrants from the northern hemisphere, and Elaenia chilensis as a migrant from the southern hemisphere. In all, 30 species were dependent on forest habitats. A total of 1558 specimens representing 86 species were captured in the mist-nets. The most common species captured (representing more than 25% of the total number of specimens) were Lanio pileatus, Columbina minuta, and Columbina picui. This inventory of the bird fauna of the Talhado do Sao Francisco Natural Monument represents an important advance in the scientific knowledge of the bird communities of the caatinga biome, and in particular of the bird faunas of the states of Alagoas and Sergipe, which are still relatively poorly-known.