The Pyrenees is a mountain range in south-western Eu-rope that supports a rich diversity of bird species. In 1981, point count surveys of breeding birds (passerines and pici-dae) were carried out in the Vanera valley, a valley in the eastern Pyrenees, resulting in a data set of 228 counts. These data provide valuable information on the distribution and abundance of bird populations on 5350 ha of heterogeneous land (including cropland, grasslands, heaths and river banks, and pine forest) at altitudes ranging from 1100 to 2600 me-ters. Additional point count surveys were carried out in the pine forest from 1982 to 1985, resulting in a data set of 144 counts. Habitat descriptors (percentage of herbaceous and ligneous plant cover at different heights -0-1m, 1-4m and more than 8m; vegetation type) and altitude were assessed around each point count. This dataset provides a complete picture of the breeding bird community in a typical valley of eastern Pyrenees in the early 1980s, which could be compared with future censuses to contribute to a variety of research questions, such as quan-tifying changes in birds between the early 1980s and now in mountain areas, understanding the effects of climate change on bird populations, examining the effects of habitat fragmentation and land-use change, and identifying priority ar-eas for conservation and management. These data could in-spire new research and contribute to our collective under-standing of bird ecology in the Pyrenees.