1997 in birding and ornithology


 * See also 1996 in birding and ornithology, main events of 1997 and 1998 in birding and ornithology

New species

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


 * The jocotoco antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi) from Ecuador was discovered in the Cerro Tapichalaca cloud forest.

Taxonomic developments
To be completed

Breeding birds

 * Only eleven booming bitterns are heard, half as many as the previous year.
 * Thousands of young black-legged kittiwakes and other seabirds die in north-east England during storms.
 * A pair of red-backed shrikes breed in Northern Scotland.

Migrant and wintering birds
To be completed

Rare birds

 * A spectacled warbler at Landguard Point, Suffolk is the second British record
 * A semipalmated plover at Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve in June is the second British record
 * A male Siberian rubythroat in Dorset in October is the second British record
 * A blue-cheeked bee-eater in Shetland in June and July is Britain's eighth, but only the second to be seen by large numbers of observers.
 * A western sandpiper in Lothian in July is also Britain's eighth, but only the first to be seen by large numbers of observers.
 * A record influx of sixteen desert wheatears occurs between October and December

Other events

 * The British Birdwatching Fair has Ecuador as its theme for the year.

Scandinavia
To be completed

North America
To be completed

Asia
To be completed