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Description
Coyote Hills is one of the premier birding locations in the Bay Area. With an extensive network of trails and boardwalks through freshwater marsh, tidal marsh and mudflat, diked baylands, and rolling grassy hills, it hosts a wide array of bird species (some seasonal) including: Virginia Rail, American Bittern, Marsh Wren, American Kestrel, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, White-throated Swift, Burrowing Owl (often seen just uphill from Bayview Trail, where the No Name and Bayview Trails run parallel), Nuttall's Woodpecker, Western Flycatcher, Western Bluebird, Say's Phoebe, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Great-tailed Grackle, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallow, and a wide array of ducks, shorebirds, gulls, and passerine species.
Aside from native species, a Chilean Flamingo nicknamed 'Floyd' has also made it's home here since around 2008 (often along No Name Trail), and there's been speculation that it might be an escapee from a water theme park, though no one is sure of it's provenance. Another escapee, an American Flamingo has also been reported in the past.
Birds that are seen each year here in the right season, but that are relatively scarce elsewhere in the Bay Area include: Rock Wren (best seen at the cluster of rocks at the high point of the Red Hill trail, just south of Vista Point [at about GPS point: 7.553705, -122.094368]), Golden Eagle, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-eared Owl (often seen from Bayview Trail), White-faced Ibis and Loggerhead Shrike (often near the visitor center or along Bayview Trail).
Numerous rarities are found here each year, including in the past, Tufted Duck, Ruff, Stilt Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Pectoral Sandpiper, Glaucous Gull (an adult that has returned for several years as of 2023), White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Pacific Golden Plover, Brown Thrasher, Rough-legged Buzzard, Ferruginous Hawk, Lewis's Woodpecker, Gray Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Cassin's Kingbird, Bank Swallow, Horned Lark, Sage Thrasher, Grey Catbird, Mountain Bluebird, White Wagtail, Prairie Falcon, Red-throated Pipit, Phainopepla, Evening Grosbeak, Lapland Longspur, Black-throated Sparrow and others.
Details
Access
Coyote Hills Regional Park is located along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, northwest of the cities of Fremont and Newark. Access is by road to the visitor center. Click on the P in the map for directions or coordinates. The visitor center has public restrooms.