Bird and habitat surveys were conducted in winter-flooded rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, California, USA during the fall and winters of 2021-2022 (Oct 2021 through February 2022) and 2022-2023 (December 2022 through February 2023). Rice field sampling consisted of (1) a bird survey that was followed by (2) an overall habitat assessment and (3) a more detailed habitat transect survey. Rice farms in the Sacramento Valley are organized into separate rice fields that each consist of multiple smaller rice checks. This dataset contains 253 surveyed rice checks with the observed bird abundances for each rice check, calculated diversity metrics, and measured habitat variables.