Birding Tour Borneo: Sabah Classic Tour

Whitehead’s Trogon – one of the famous “Whitehead’s trio” that we target on this Borneo tour.

Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, is one of the world’s most biodiverse wildlife havens. With over 50 island endemics found across pristine dipterocarp forests, montane cloudforests, riverine habitats, and mangrove swamps you should enjoy an amazing time on this small-group birdwatching tour filled with stunning birds from mouthwatering families like pittas, trogons, kingfishers, hornbills, and broadbills, as well as a wide range of mammalian treasures.

Our Borneo birding tour will take us to the important birdwatching sites of the Malaysian province of Sabah, which covers the northernmost part of this vast and amazing island, including time spent birding in five of its IBAs (Important Bird Areas identified by BirdLife International): the Crocker Range, Mount Kinabalu, Kabili-Sepilok, the Kinabatangan river floodplain, and the Danum Valley (where we will stay at the magnificent Borneo Rainforest Lodge).

Some of the many birds we target include the famous “Whitehead’s trio” of Whitehead’s Trogon, Whitehead’s Broadbill, and Whitehead’s Spiderhunter, along with the monotypic Bornean Bristlehead, a big target for family listers and one of Borneo’s most sought endemics. We will also look for other mega endemic birds such as Bornean Ground Cuckoo, Fruithunter, and Bornean Green Magpie, and we will look for three glittering endemic pittas, the simply sublime trio of Blue-headed Pitta, Black-crowned Pitta, and Bornean Banded Pitta. Furthermore, we will also look for the near-mythical Giant Pitta. It is very unlikely that we will see the very tough endemic Blue-banded Pitta on this tour, though our Malaysia: Borneo, Sarawak – Restricted Range Endemics tour offers better chances for that one.

On our radar will be all eight hornbill species that occur here, including the spectacular Helmeted Hornbill, which is now Critically Endangered (BirdLife International), along with stunning Rhinoceros Hornbill. There will also be plenty of other endemic and Sundaic birds available during this tour, such as Storm’s Stork, Banded Kingfisher, and Bornean Forktail.

Bornean Bristlehead, a bizarre and monotypic endemic target (photo Liew Weng Keong).

In addition to the incredible birds, we will also be focused on finding some spectacular mammals, such as the “old man of the forest”, the Bornean Orangutan, along with the unique-looking Proboscis Monkey, plus other delights including Malay Civet, Red Giant Flying Squirrel, and Northern (North Bornean) Grey Gibbon as a small sample of possibilities.

We will be sure to look for the amazing Bornean Orangutan during our tour of Sabah.