Wetland ecosystems harbour important habitats for many species and supply various ecosystem services, but these have been damaged severely. In this research, site inventories were conducted on the Qilihai ancient lagoon wetland in Tianjin, and together with remote sensing images, habitat types were identified. Landscape indices were used to describe and analyze characteristics and qualities of different habitat and vegetation associations. As the target species, numbers, species, preferred habitats etc., of different guilds of birds were investigated. Analysis and evaluation results revealed that disappearing habitat types, homogeneous plant species, and shortage of water are the main restraints. Therefore, we proposed to create and restore habitat types and patches based on birds’ preferences, rebuild and dredge the water system, and supply water resources in different seasons according to simulation results via MIKE 21. The method and processes developed in this study could be used to make recommendations for wetland restoration practices in different sites.