Biodiversity conservation is a core issue for the sustainable development of urban ecosystems. China has incorporated “urban biodiversity conservation” into its national strategic system, with a focus on the deep integration of biodiversity elements into urban planning. As important indicator species, birds’ habitat selection can serve as a key measure of urban ecological environment quality. This study employs the Random Forest algorithm to train on bird and environmental data from Shenzhen in 2010, 2015, and 2020, aiming to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the responses of bird habitat selection patterns to environmental factors during high-density urbanization. Using feature-importance analysis, the key factors aff ecting bird survival are identifi ed, and targeted biodiversity conservation strategies are proposed. After in-depth analysis and argumentation, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) The hotspots of bird habitats are concentrated in nature reserves, urban fringe areas, and green infrastructure, while the cold spots are in high-intensity development areas. (2) The emergence of new habitat hotspots for certain bird groups in 2020 indicates that the ecological environment in some regions has been restored and improved. (3) There is a signifi cant diff erence in the adaptability of birds to urbanization. The adaptability of terrestrial birds and songbirds to urbanization has increased over time, whereas climbing birds and waterfowl show a stronger dependence on ecological habitats. (4) Climatic factors, NDVI, vegetation types, and distance to water sources have signifi cant impacts, while the infl uence of human disturbance factors varies greatly.