San Mateo County Birding Guide by Sequoia Audubon Society - Printed on June 8, 2026
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Upon entering Junipero Serra County Park, drive up to the parking lot at Upper Meadow View. From here you can walk up to Iris Point. The trees are mostly Eucalyptus, and so should be checked assiduously when flowering. Birds at this height include California Scrub-Jay, Mourning Dove, Steller's Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing, California Towhee, American Robin, and Pygmy Nuthatch. Along the Quail Loop Trail, look for Red-tailed Hawk, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, and Common Raven. The Oak Cove Picnic Area is close to riparian along El Zanion Creek. This area can be exceptionally birdy in spring; species to look for include migrants and breeding visitors such as Black-headed Grosbeak, Wilson's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Bushtit, and Bewick's Wren. At De Anza Playground, right inside the park entrance, the creek is relegated to a concrete channel. The Live Oak Trail continues to the northeast, where it connects to San Bruno City Park (see future entry in this guide). The Live Oak Nature Trail can also hold migrant passerines. Zigzagging back up the hill, using the Quail Loop, though Lower Meadow to Upper Meadow View, one can look and listen for Hairy Woodpecker and Purple Finch. In the Upper Meadow area, open-field migrants and residents can be found, as well as fly-over swifts, swallows, gulls and terns; in 2009, both Western Kingbird and Olive-sided Flycatcher were seen at this spot. At this altitude, one is on eye-level with these birds.
Locals prize Junipero Serra County Park for its panoramic views of northern San Mateo County, including San Bruno Mountain and the San Francisco International Airport. This scenic beauty makes it a pleasant park for introducing out-of-town birding guests to the basic avifauna and geography of the area. In any event, this park is under birded, and needs to be revisited. Birders, please add your impressions and observations about this park to this account.
Canada Goose, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Great Horned Owl, White-throated Swift, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo (uncommon at this location), California Scrub-Jay, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Pacific Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Wrentit, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Varied Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, California Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler (uncommon; seen in migration), Wilson's Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler (uncommon at this location, has been seen here in winter), Spotted Towhee, California Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Purple Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill (unusual at this location; irruptive)
In this guide, "rarities" are defined as those species given an County Abundance Code of 4, 5, or 6.
Bald Eagle (2015), Western Kingbird (2009), Nashville Warbler (2005)
From northern peninsula going south on I-280, exit on Crystal Springs Road (after Sneath Lane/San Bruno Avenue). Turn right on Crystal Springs Road, drive 1/2 mile, and turn left into park.
From South on 280, exit on San Bruno Avenue, continue to El Camino Real, turn south (Right), continue to Crystal Springs Road, turn right and drive 1-1/2 miles to park entrance on left. Do NOT follow the directions on the county park website, as this route is unsigned, confusing and less direct.
From north or south on 101, take 380 west to El Camino exit, go south on El Camino SR82, turn right on Crystal Springs Road, go 1-1/2 mile, and turn left into park entrance.
The official street address for the park is 1801 Crystal Springs Road, San Bruno, CA 94066.
There is a $5 parking fee; residents are urged to purchase a San Mateo County Parks Annual Pass.
Junipero Serra Park opens at 8:00 A.M every day throughout the year (holidays included). Closing time varies by time of year. The closing times are best checked on the website.
This park has abundant Poison Oak; be careful. There is also an abundance of freeway noise to the west; this dissipates as you go east in the park.
Very nice and well-maintained restrooms can be found at all playground/picnic areas. The park has several individual and group picnic areas. The Upper Meadow Playground is new and state-of-the-art. The slides are fast. The following facilities are handicapped accessible: Oak Cove, De Anza Playground, Upper Meadow Playground. For food and provisions, you are close to large commercial areas in San Bruno, South San Francisco and Daly City.
The phone number for Junipero Serra County Park is 650-589-5708.
Junipero Serra County Park's eBird hotspot has data in thirty-one of forty-eight time quadrants with seventy-six species represented. This park is underbirded, so help build a full data set for the site at eBird.
The iNaturalist place guide for Junipero Serra Park (known as "JSP" by park personnel) can be found here; as with the birding, the park is undervisited by naturalists, and could benefit from more robust data.
Junipero Serra County Park was given the Bio-Blitz treatment as part of the Sequoia Audubon Society and San Mateo County Park partnership, in March 2017. The results can be seen here.
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 six field trips to this park, at the oddly intermittent rate of one/decade since the 1980s.
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