San Mateo County Birding Guide by Sequoia Audubon Society - Printed on October 30, 2026
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Nestled into downtown San Mateo, this urban park contains many old trees and attractive gardens for hosting local birds. Central Park is a hub for local activities; the following organizations and features are present in this small area: Japanese Gardens, San Mateo Arboretum, San Mateo Rotary Picnic Area, Central Recreation building, a playground, Fitzgerald Field (NW corner), and the San Mateo Tennis Center. In general, the south side of the park is birdier, as the north side features the organized sports activities. The Japanese Gardens and Arboretum are both small but well-planned visually, with plenty of hiding spots for birds. The playground and picnic area has some oaks that attract Oak Titmouse and occasional wandering Acorn Woodpeckers. The park's tall trees offer roosting space to Barn Owls. This park is an ideal location if you are birding while also doing childcare or eldercare, or if you are walking your dog, or if you have a spouse or friend who wants to shop in the boutiques of nearby downtown San Mateo. It is also a fun place for beginning birdwatchers to explore and learn the habits and behaviors of our local avifauna. The Arboretum (south central section of park) and Japanese Gardens (SE section of park), in particular, make for short but sweet stops in a busy day of sightseeing.
Canada Goose, Mallard, Black-crowned Night-heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Killdeer, California Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, California Scrub-Jay, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Bewick's Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Pygmy Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, European Starling, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Western Tanager, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, House Sparrow
In this guide, "rarities" are defined as those species given an County Abundance Code of 4, 5, or 6.
Summer Tanager (2021)
Central Park is located on SR 82, El Camino Real, in downtown San Mateo. The easiest access is to take the SR82 exit off of SR92, and travel north; the park will be on your right in about a mile. There are metered parking spaces around the park, and an underground lot on the north side.
The use of the park is free.
The park is officially open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. However, many of the specialty areas, such as the Japanese Garden and the Arboretum, have more limited hours.
This park is probably as free of natural hazards as any one can be; there are ticks, but they are likely the larger dog ticks and not the dangerous Lyme-carrying deer ticks. The hazards here are human-made, such as traffic noise, parking meters, and so on. The crime rate in the area is low, though one should still not leave valuables visible in parked cars. The gardens are sometimes used for weddings. Dogs on leash are permitted in this park.
The restrooms in the park are open when the park is.
The San Mateo Park District can be reached at 522-7700.
San Mateo Central Park is a hotspot in eBird, with data in 21 of 48 time quadrants, representing forty-nine species. Given that this is an interesting urban oasis for birds, it could be hoped that more birders would take an hour out from their day, peruse the park, and enter those sightings in eBird.
The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) is conducting a long-range study of gull movements in the Bay Area. California Gulls have been leg-banded with plastic colored bands. If you see any of these gulls, please note the leg and the color of the band; if it is possible to read the number on the band, record that also. This information can be shared directly with Carly at SFBBO (cschacter@sfbbo.org). If the birds also have a metal band, and you can read that number, too, please report that to the National Bird Banding Lab.
Sequoia Audubon has led one field trip to Central Park in 2011, soon after this entry was first posted.
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