As the first nature reserve in mainland China, Dinghushan preserves a complete south subtropical monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest and is a biodiversity hotspot in southern China. The reserve is rich in bird resources, but historical research data is scattered, and there is no complete bird checklist. This article systematically sorts out the literature published from 1913 to 2019, and analyzes the changes of bird resources and the threatening factors of reserve. There is a total of 267 bird species from 17 orders, 64 families in the Reserve, with 45 species listed as national protection. As to its fauna, the Oriental species are dominant, accounting for 78.48% of breeding birds. For migratory status, there are 144 migrating species, and 118 resident birds. And another 5 species have both migration and long-term settlement. The literatures show that the ornithology research in the reserve mainly involving bird population, community, behavior and reproduction. The research on the population ecology of the Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera) and the bird community in different vegetation succession stages are more in-depth. Compared with historical records, there has been a significant decrease of water birds in the reserve and surrounding areas during the past 30 years, especially for Charadriiformes. It is related to the significant reduction in wetlands, such as marshes, ponds, and paddy fields due to rapid urbanization. We also found new distribution records of 15 bird species from 2013 to 2019, which are mainly migrating species, such as Barred Cuckoo Dove (Macropygia unchall). In the future, the reserve should comprehensively establish a long-term fixed monitoring system for bird diversity, strengthening theoretical research on bird life history, interspecific social organization, and community assembly mechanisms. The research advances on plant-animal functional diversity and ecosystem stability are necessary by integrating multitrophic interaction networks, which could provide more scientific basis for the protection and management of wildlife in the reserve.