Canterbury’s rivers, especially the wide braided rivers, are special habitats for birdlife, occupied by a range of bird guilds.Several threatened and endangered species are enormously reliant on these rivers.The habitat needs of birdlife are highly dependent on controls maintained by river flows. There is a lack of research and at least 2 key critical habitat relationships: predation-flow and energetics. Some mitigation measures are possible but key ones are very expensive, e.g., vegetation management and predator control.