https://ipt.gbif.fr/resource?r=symphonie_jyb Jean-Yves Barnagaud CEFE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7809 Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole distributor Ville de Montpellier distributor 2026-02-16 eng This dataset documents bird communities along urbanization and green space gradients within the Montpellier metropolitan area (southern France). Surveys were conducted using standardized point count protocols as part of an exploratory ecoacoustic research project aimed at assessing the contribution of avifauna to urban soundscapes. The dataset includes ornithological occurrence data describing species composition and abundance recorded at each sampling site. Acoustic recordings and environmental variables were also collected during the surveys but are not included in this dataset. Occurrence Point count survey Urban sites Urban ecosystems Community structure Urban biodiversity Bird communities Soundscape ecology GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type_2015-07-10.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html CC-BY-4.0 N/A 3.828766 3.923771 43.642348 43.583568 2023-03-28 2023-05-10 family Fringillidae family Alcedinidae order Columbiformes class Aves order Charadriiformes family Passeridae family Troglodytidae family Laridae family Sylviidae order Bucerotiformes family Corvidae family Accipitridae family Upupidae family Phylloscopidae family Certhiidae family Columbidae family Hirundinidae family Regulidae family Strigidae order Psittaciformes family Motacillidae family Muscicapidae kingdom Animalia family Phalacrocoracidae family Aegithalidae order Caprimulgiformes family Scotocercidae family Emberizidae family Falconidae order Passeriformes family Apodidae family Turdidae order Strigiformes order Pelecaniformes family Psittaculidae order Coraciiformes order Piciformes family Paridae family Picidae order Falconiformes family Ardeidae family Cisticolidae order Accipitriformes family Sturnidae family Meropidae unknown Jean-Yves Barnagaud CEFE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7809 Field data were first standardized and aggregated by sampling point, visit, date, and species. Abundance values were summed within each 10-minute count session. Absence data were generated by completing the species × sampling event matrix to ensure consistent occurrence reporting. Geographic coordinates were converted to decimal degrees (WGS84), and dates were standardized to ISO format. Taxonomic names were harmonized using the TAXREF reference database before export to Darwin Core format for publication through GBIF. The study was conducted within the Montpellier metropolitan area in southern France. Sampling sites were distributed along gradients of urbanization and green infrastructure, including urban parks, residential areas, and peri-urban environments. The spatial design aimed to capture variation in habitat structure and urban intensity influencing bird community composition. Bird surveys were carried out using standardized point count protocols. At each sampling point, observers recorded all birds seen or heard during fixed 10-minute sessions. Counts were repeated across multiple visits to account for temporal variability in bird detectability and activity. Environmental variables such as temperature and cloud cover were recorded during each survey session. Although acoustic recordings were collected as part of the broader ecoacoustic project, only field-based bird observations are included in this dataset. Jean-Yves Barnagaud https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7809 author 2026-02-16T12:19:47.204+00:00 dataset Barnagaud J (2026). Soundscape - The Symphony of Birds in Montpellier. Version 1.0. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive (CEFE). Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.fr/resource?r=symphonie_jyb&v=1.0