The Palo Alto Baylands is good for birding year-round, although birding is best from fall to spring.

One of the main specialties here, Ridgway’s Rail, is present in the area year-round. The rails are best seen at low tide. The channel crossing the Lucy Evans boardwalk and the marsh to the south of the Lucy Evans parking are the best places to see the rails. In addition, many shorebirds are often seen here from fall-spring, including Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, and Dunlin.

In winter, high tides may push up Sora and Virginia Rail into view along the San Francisquito Creek Trail as it runs parallel to the airport. In addition to the rails, the vegetation just south of a large Myoporum bush (at 37.461991, -122.114162) on the same trail is one of the best places in the county to find Swamp Sparrow during winter high tides. In the winter of 2021-2022, a Curlew Sandpiper was seen at the Palo Alto Baylands and has returned for a second winter. During low tide, it forages in the large slough north of the duck pond and is most often seen from the north end of the Palo Alto Duck Pond trail. During high tide, however, it moves with many other shorebirds to the small pond east of the Lucy Evans Nature Center and north of the nearby parking lot. Scoping from the end of the boardwalk at this season may also be productive for interesting ducks and grebes, and possibly the occasional seabird after a large storm. Finally, many ducks, including shovelers, pintail, and teal, are often seen in the area in winter - the shovelers and teal generally stay in the large slough, while the pintails stay in the channel parallel to the airport. Eurasian Green-winged Teal occurs in most winters: look wherever there are concentrations of American Green-winged. Bonaparte's Gull is also semi-regular on the Duck Pond and nearby areas.

In spring, Barn and Cliff Swallows are often seen nesting around the Lucy Evans Nature Center, and Red Knot (uncommon) can be found at the San Francisquito Creek Mouth and from the boat launch. Many of the other shorebirds can also be found at both of these locations, and Ruddy Turnstone is regular at the creek mouth (though they are most often seen on the San Mateo County side).

Ridgway’s Rail, Sora, Virginia Rail, Swamp Sparrow (rare), many species of ducks, Curlew Sandpiper (vagrant), Whimbrel, Red Knot, Long-billed Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone.

Bounded by Mountain View and East Palo Alto, the 1,940-acre Baylands Preserve is one of the largest tracts of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay. Fifteen miles of multi-use trails provide access to a unique mixture of tidal and freshwater habitats.

Many consider this area to be one of the best bird watching areas on the west coast. The preserve has a substantial resident population of birds as well as being a major migratory stopover on the Pacific Flyway.

The Palo Alto Baylands is a large expanse of marshland and bayshore managed by the city of Palo Alto. It is one of the better birding areas in the county and contains a mix of shorebirds, rails, and ducks.

The area includes salt marshes, a large slough, a channel with large amounts of vegetation on each side, a large tidal marsh, a duck pond, and two creek channels with large amounts of mudflats. 

There are several small parking lots, as well as a boat launch. However, the only restrooms here (with the exception of one at Byxbee Park to the south) are porta-potties. The park opens at 8:00 AM and closes at sunset.

The park has several eBird hotspots for more specific areas within the park. The Palo Alto Baylands--Duck Pond is mainly for the duck pond and the surrounding plantings, the Palo Alto Baylands--Boardwalk is for the boardwalk and Lucy Evans Nature Center, and the two San Francisquito Creek Mouth hotspots (one in Santa Clara County and one in San Mateo County) are for the creek mouth only (for more discussion on the county boundaries there, see the Santa Clara Audubon Society website). The “Palo Alto Baylands” hotspot generally encompasses all of the above hotspots, as well as many of the areas in between them, the boat launch, and the tidal marsh south of the Lucy Evans parking. Other hotspots in the area (e.g. Byxbee Park, San Francisquito Creek Trail-Geng Road) are technically part of the Palo Alto Baylands, but the general Palo Alto Baylands hotspot should not be used for these areas. 

San Francisquito Creek Trail, Lucy Evans Nature Center Boardwalk, Marsh Front Trail, Duck Pond Loop Trail.