Byrds is the 12th and final studio album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1973 on Asylum Records (see 1973 in music). It was recorded as the centerpiece of a reunion between the five original members of The Byrds: Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. The last time that all five members had worked together as The Byrds was in 1966, prior to Gene Clark's departure from the band. During the reunion, the current, latter-day line-up of the band continued to make live appearances until February 1973, with McGuinn being the only member common to both versions of the group.

Upon its release, Byrds received generally poor reviews, with many critics bemoaning a lack of sonic unity and the absence of The Byrds' signature jangly guitar sound among the album's shortcomings. Nonetheless, the album reached #20 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and was also moderately successful in the United Kingdom, where it reached #31. In the U.S., Byrds was the band's highest charting album of new material since 1965's Turn! Turn! Turn!, which had also been the last Byrds' album to feature Clark as a full member. Three of the album's songs, "Full Circle", "Things Will Be Better", and "Cowgirl in the Sand", were released as singles during 1973 but none of these releases became hits.Byrds is notable for being the last studio album to be recorded by the band to date.

By 1972, The Byrds' guitarist and leader, Roger McGuinn, had grown dissatisfied with the current version of the group. As the only member to have remained consistent since the band's inception in 1964, McGuinn had steered The Byrds through a dizzying array of line-up changes during the late 1960s. The band's membership had finally stabilized in 1970 but by early 1972 dissension was brewing due to disagreements over band members' pay. As a result of this, Gene Parsons (the band's drummer since 1968) was fired by McGuinn in July 1972 and replaced by stand-in session musician John Guerin. The Byrds continued to tour and record sporadically throughout 1972, but no new single or album was forthcoming.

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