Bird data comprises point counts of bird species and their abundance observed at each collection site. Data are separated into birds within 50m, greater than 50m distant and birds in flight. These data were collected from the South Fork McKenzie river, Oregon, USA in June 2021 following the Holiday Farm wildfire in Autumn 2020. Samples were collected from a restored and unrestored reach of the South Fork McKenzie River with a view to quantifying differences in avian response to wildfire in the restored vs. unrestored river reaches. The study was conducted by the University of Nottingham, with data collected by partners from The US Forest Service, Portland State University, Washington State University and Colorado State University. Funding for the work was received from the Natural Environment Research Council. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/dd919c8e-ccd6-48ed-a1c0-ef5cf732bdc6