AbstractThe formation and dynamics of tidal bores in funnel‐shaped estuaries is investigated from both a global tidal wave scaling analysis and new quantitative field observations. We show that tidal bore occurrence in convergent estuaries can be estimated from a dimensionless scaling parameter characterizing the relative intensity of nonlinear friction versus local inertia in the momentum equation. A detailed analysis of tidal bore formation and secondary wave structure is presented from a unique long‐term database (observations of more than 200 tides) acquired during four campaigns in the two main French tidal‐bore estuaries: the Seine and Gironde/Garonne estuaries. We describe the effect of freshwater discharge on the global tidal wave transformation at the estuarine scale and on local tidal bore occurrence in the upper estuary. Our field data suggest that the tidal bore intensity is mainly governed by the dimensionless tidal range, which characterizes the local tidal wave nonlinearity. We also show that the secondary wavefield associated with tidal bore propagating in natural estuaries differs significantly from those associated to undular bores in rectangular channels. In particular, we observe an abrupt decrease of the whelp steepness when the Froude number goes below 1.1. This secondary field transition can explain why tidal bore occurrence in worldwide estuaries is certainly underestimated.