Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in San Mateo County, California

Coyote Point Recreation Area leads San Mateo County's birding spots with 229 species reported, best in fall. 237 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Coyote Point Recreation Area	229	4,248	167	182	116	188
Deer Creek	215	4,073	157	160	140	164
Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve	203	1,403	150	139	125	162
Año Nuevo State Park	200	1,454	128	145	131	154
Half Moon Bay State Beach	197	2,871	132	147	120	142
Pillar Point	190	1,389	116	144	110	155
Bedwell Bayfront Park	175	1,335	120	126	89	130
Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve	174	2,621	129	132	98	123
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve	170	1,315	115	124	76	123
Pigeon Point	158	1,303	95	110	75	114
Denniston Creek	155	1,017	116	98	64	107
Sharp Park Golf Course	155	878	118	114	97	104
Pescadero State Beach	153	1,385	100	87	79	113
Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve (Pescadero Beach)	152	519	107	75	78	119
Whaleman Harbor	149	661	109	106	74	115
San Mateo Creek	148	1,078	125	103	63	104
Gazos Creek Fishing Access	147	755	78	89	72	113
Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve (northeast)	140	804	109	119	74	96
Half Moon Bay State Beach (Francis Beach)	139	751	80	100	81	96
Poplar Beach	136	1,543	92	97	85	101
La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve	135	882	84	116	88	90
Sharp Park Beach	134	429	89	80	50	91
Jasper Ridge Reserve	129	573	88	109	84	104
Lake Lucerne	128	356	68	73	68	104
Inner Bair Island	127	953	108	97	65	80
San Gregorio State Beach	126	568	61	71	67	83
Burleigh H. Murray Ranch	124	1,656	61	105	89	72
Wavecrest Open Space Reserve	124	872	83	87	73	99
Bay Front Park	124	797	95	85	67	92
Half Moon Bay State Beach (Frenchmans Creek)	124	563	77	76	63	99
Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve (Round Hill)	122	439	72	87	60	95
Shad Park	121	1,150	106	91	57	87
Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve (Bay Slough)	119	309	101	68	47	78
Año Nuevo State Reserve	119	251	73	62	52	88
Devil's Slide Trail	116	1,267	66	88	77	55
San Bruno Mountain State Park	116	1,235	63	97	69	84
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve	116	574	76	92	80	63
Higgins Canyon	116	447	97	67	47	86
Filoli Center	115	1,516	86	98	73	84
Mariner Park	115	250	92	85	53	68
Redwood Shores Lagoon	114	619	59	87	41	75
Tunitas Creek Beach	113	188	33	24	29	105
Baylands Preserve (Runnymeade (historical))	112	253	85	66	55	75
Colma Creek	112	196	79	63	42	100
Levee Pedway	111	499	98	76	52	83
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Ravenswood Slough)	111	438	73	87	58	61
Redwood Shores Lagoon (O'Neal Slough)	110	370	77	87	61	67
Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve	108	951	60	97	65	59
Mussel Rock Park	108	292	64	56	55	71
Pomponio State Beach	107	429	58	69	54	51