[Objectives] With the acceleration of urbanization, human disturbances have become increasingly prevalent, prompting birds to adapt their behaviors to the changing environment. These adaptation activities include shifts in habitat selection, activity periods, and escape responses. [Methods] From December 2023 to March 2024, we conducted a field study using direct observation to assess bird abundance and activity patterns across 18 study sites at Anhui University, Hefei University of Technology, and Anhui Sanlian College in winter vacation (February 2024) and non-winter vacation (from December 2023 to January 2024, and March 2024) (Fig. 1). At each site, we recorded the count of people, human activity duration, number of birds, and bird activity duration within a 10-min observation session. In addition, we measured the flight initiation distance (FID) and distance fled of birds. We adopted generalized linear models to analyze the effects of winter vacation (number of people and human activity duration) on the number of birds, FID, and distance fled of seven bird species (Cyanopica cyanus, Pica serica, Spilopelia chinensis, Pterorhinus perspicillatus, Eophona migratoria, Turdus merula, and Gracupica nigricollis). We performed the Kruskal-Wallis test to examine the effect of winter vacation on bird activity duration. [Results] The number of birds during winter vacation was higher than that during non-winter vacation (H = 12.37, df = 2, P = 0.002). However, the effect of winter vacation on FID varied among species. Specifically, T. merula exhibited a longer FID during winter vacation (t = 2.528, P = 0.021), whereas other six bird species showed no significant differences in FID across different time periods. No significant difference in distance fled was detected between winter and non-winter vacations for all seven species. Further analysis revealed that FID was positively correlated with flock size (t = 2.354, P = 0.019, Fig. 4) and starting distance (t = 11.017, P < 0.001). And distance fled increased as the distance between birds and nearby shelter increased (t = 7.877, P < 0.001). [Conclusion] This study highlights that number of birds is notably higher during winter vacation across the surveyed campuses, while FID is shortest during this period. These findings suggest that spatial and temporal variations in human activities influence the behavior of common urban birds, with different species exhibiting distinct behavioral adjustments. Our study provides valuable insights into the adaptive responses of birds to urban environments, contributing to a better understanding of avian behavioral ecology in human-dominated landscapes.