1996 in birding and ornithology


 *  See also 1995 in birding and ornithology, main events of 1996 and 1997 in birding and ornithology

Worldwide

 * 41 Northern bald ibises, a fifth of the known world population, die in Morocco of unknown causes.

New species

 * See also Bird species new to science described in the 1990s


 * The cryptic warbler (Cryptosylvicola randrianasoloi) from Madagascar is first described.

Taxonomic developments
To be completed

Deaths

 * 21 May - Bobby Tulloch (born 1929)

Breeding birds

 * The only breeding pair of golden eagles in England hatch a chick for the first time in three years at Haweswater.
 * 580 singing male corncrakes are counted, up from 537 in 1995.
 * The first inland breeding of avocets in modern times takes place at a site in London. However breeding success at coastal colonies in East Anglia is poor.
 * A pair of hoopoes successfully breed in Mid Wales.

Migrant and wintering birds

 * Thousands of waxwings are seen across Britain in the first few months of the year.
 * Large numbers of little stints and curlew sandpipers pass through during the autumn.

Rare birds

 * A second-calendar year south polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) was at West Bexington, Dorset from 27 January to 4 February 1996. The species nests on the Antarctic continent, and during the non-breeding season covers large distances, including as far as the northern oceans. It was added to the British list in August 2021.
 * A redhead in Nottinghamshire in March is Britain's first
 * An American coot at Stodmarsh, Kent in April is Britain's first
 * An indigo bunting on Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire in October is Britain's first
 * A cedar waxwing in Nottingham in February is Britain's second, but the first to be seen by large numbers of observers
 * A great knot on Teesside in October is Britain's second, but the first to be seen by large numbers of observers
 * A Caspian plover in Shetland in June is Britain's fourth
 * A calandra lark on the Isles of Scilly in April is Britain's fifth
 * During October, the Isles of Scilly also hosted two black-and-white warblers and Britain's sixth buff-bellied pipit
 * A Spanish sparrow arrives in Cumbria in July to begin a year-long stay; few observers had seen this species in Britain previously
 * The influx of Arctic redpolls of the race exilipes which began in late 1995 continued, and became the largest recorded invasion of this species into the country

Other events

 * Thousands of seabirds are killed by an oil spill when the Sea Empress oil tanker runs aground in Pembrokeshire in February.
 * A trial cull of ruddy ducks takes place in the Midlands.
 * At Rutland Water a project to reintroduce ospreys begins.
 * The British Birdwatching Fair the Vietnamese pheasant as its theme.

France

 * Europe's first great blue heron on Ile d'Ouessant, Finistère in April.

Ireland

 * A long-toed stint at Ballycotton, County Cork in June is the first for Ireland.

Scandinavia
To be completed

North America
To be completed

Asia

 * Four Siberian white cranes arrive at Bharatpur in India, the first records of this highly endangered species there since the 1992/1993 winter.