North-east region of India is one of the significant biodiversity hotspot. Being, one of the richest bird area, it is an important routes for migratory birds and home to many endemic birds. This paper describes the literature based dataset of species occurrences of birds of the north-eastern India. The occurrence records documented in the dataset are distributed across eleven provinces of India, viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The geospatial scope of the dataset represents 24 to 29 degree North latitude and 78 to 94 degree East longitude and comprises of over 2400 occurrence records. These records have been collated from scholarly literature published during 1915 – 2008, especially the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (JBNHS). The temporal scale of the dataset represents bird observations recorded during 1909 – 2007. The dataset has been developed by employing MS Excel. The key elements in the database are scientific name, taxonomic classification, temporal and geospatial details including geo-coordinate precision, data collector, basis of record, and primary source of the data record. The temporal and geospatial quality of more than 50% of the data records has been enhanced retrospectively. Where possible, data records are annotated with geospatial coordinate precision to the nearest minute. This dataset is being constantly updated with addition of new data records, and quality enhancement of documented occurrences. The dataset can be used in species distribution and niche modeling studies. It is planned to expand the scope of the dataset to collate bird species occurrences across Indian peninsular.