Borneo Birding

From a naturalist’s viewpoint, Borneo is one of the richest places on Earth. Its lowland rainforest is not only the oldest and among the most diverse, but the tallest as well. Towering to more than 13,000 feet above these ancient dipterocarp forests is majestic Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea and the upper tip of the largest batholith on Earth. Its montane forests support a mix of species of Himalayan, Australasian, and tropical affinities–oaks, eucalypts, magnolias, rhododendrons, figs, ferns, pitcher plants, and orchids of incredible diversity.

Borneo’s fauna is equally diverse in form, from “flying” frogs, “flying” lizards, and “flying” squirrels to Proboscis Monkeys, Orangutans, and Bornean Pygmy Elephants. Its birds include a host of rare and little-known endemics, from the bizarre Bornean Bristlehead (a monotypic family) and the monotypic Fruit-hunter to shy pittas and wren-babblers and the dazzling Whitehead’s Trogon. The forests ring with the calls of hornbills, barbets, broadbills, babblers, and bulbuls, sometimes joined by the haunting hollering of gibbons. The diversity of birds is surpassed only in lowland Amazonia; the beauty of the avifauna is unsurpassed!

Our tour will focus on three prime areas in the northeastern state of Sabah: Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the Danum Valley, the Kinabatangan River, and Kinabalu Park. We’ll have time to enjoy not only a high proportion of the 48 endemic birds, but a plethora of more widespread birds and other wildlife of classic Asian affinities.