Land sparing of high conservation value forests (HCVFs) for conservation efforts is one of the sustainable practices in oil palm plantations. The oil palm-forest interface is linked to increased biodiversity, but how the habitat factors influence biodiversity is not well understood. The study investigated the influence of distancebased natural and man-made habitat factors on bird community structure within oil palm-forest interface sites in Peninsular Malaysia. The study compared bird communities across different oil palm landscapes: monoculture (MCP), with forest patch (FPP) and adjacent to a large forest (NFP). The findings demonstrate that NFP supports the highest species richness and diversity, followed by FPP and least at MCP. Closer distance to settlement yields higher total bird and omnivore abundance, but the opposite trend was found with frugivores and insectivores. Surprisingly, a closer distance to an unpaved road also revealed higher total bird, frugivore and insectivore abundance. Although natural habitat factors posed no significant influence on the total bird abundance, guild-specific and forest-dependency groups, they still enhance bird diversity at the landscape level through spill-over effect. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of incorporating the distance-based habitat configuration, as well as the value of preserving and maintaining HCVFs for sustainable planning while highlighting the conservation plantation strategies.