This study assesses bird species in and around Tara Gedam Church Forest in northern Ethiopia. Today, most of Ethiopia’s church forests are small forest patches surrounded by a degraded landscape, mostly arable land. Nevertheless, these forest islands may still provide valuable habitats for typical forest species. The study observed birds in natural evergreen Afromontane forest (forest interior and forest edge) and in anthropogenic habitats, such as semi-natural shrublands, agricultural land, and Eucalyptus tree plantations. The authors assigned behavioral and ecological characteristics to each bird species observed. Results point to a specific bird community restricted to the forest interior and characterized by generalist and specialist birds. Along the forest edge, species of the open landscape create communities with high species overlap. This research stresses that even small forest remnants are important for conserving forest species that may not evade surrogate forest habitats, underlining the fact.