This review comprises of the world literature concerning the roles of avian adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla to stress situations from 1984 upto recent. Although in avians both the adrenal counterparts react to stress, the manifestations of the two show a sharp difference. The adrenal catechol hormones mostly react promptly to develop an instant reaction, while adrenocortical steroids develop a second line of defense and help birds to establish homoeostasis. However, the exact mechanism of action at the cellular and molecular levels has still remained unexplored and research on this aspect of avian physiology needs more attention.