Our standard 12 days Endemic Borneo (Sabah) Birds Birding Tours covered most of the main bird watching hot spot in Borneo/Sabah, this itinerary enable birder to record around 40 species of Borneo Endemic Birds species, this include the rare Bornean Bristlehead, Bornean Ground Cuckoo, Whitehead’s Trogon, Whitehead’s Broadbill and Whitehead’s Spiderhunter, Red breasted Partridge, Crimson Headed Partridge also possible to sight on the tour. This itinerary also enable bird watcher to have chance to watch the natural habitat of the Borneo Mammals, for example the Bornean Orangutan, Bornean Gibbon, Proboscis Monkey and Bornean Clouded Leopard as well as the Bornean Pygmy Elephants. This itinerary suitable for leisure bird watcher as well as avid bird photographer to enjoy the Borneo nature and have great opportunity to encounter the Borneo birds life.
Arrival in Kota Kinabalu, sabah

After arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport we will transfer to our hotel to check in for an overnight stay.

(If the participants will arrive by afternoon, we still can have chance for 2hrs birding around the Tanjung Aru beach to look for Blue Naped Parrots, Pied Triller and other birds that would not be encounter for the rest of the trip in sabah.)

Overnight: Hotel Dreamtel, Kota Kinabalu (Shangri-la City Hotel Or similar standard)(1st night)

Our Borneo Birding Tour set off very early morning to Tambunan Rafflesia Centre, then afternoon transfer to Kinabalu National Park for more Borneo Birding.

Early Morning at 4:30am, or Borneo Birding tour start with pack breakfast and transfer to Kinabalu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. En route we will stop at the Tambunan Rafflesia Centre and Gunung Alap in the Crocker Range to watch our very first Borneo endemic Bird species. Tambunan also set as very good Borneo Birds Photographing site. Here , our Borneo Birding Tours will be birding for whole morning, hoping to see and photograph, among others, a number of Bornean birds endemics such as Whitehead’s Spiderhunter, Bornean Barbet, Mountain Barbets, and Golden-naped Barbets, Bornean Treepie, Chestnut-crested Yuhina, Bare-headed Laughingthrush, and Bornean Bulbul, as well as Ochraceous, Cinereous, and Flavescent Bulbuls (the Bornean subspecies of the latter is known as the Pale-faced Bulbul), Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, and Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler. Good opportunity for Borneo Birds Photographing.

From here Borneo Birding Tours will make our way up into the mountains to Kinabalu National Park. We will be based for three nights in Kundasang for our Borneo Birding Tour, at a small village very close to the entrance to the park.

Overnight: The Pine Resort , Kundasang (1st night)

Borneo Birding Tour Birding around Kinabalu National Park, sabah

Today Borneo Birding Tour will explore the network of forested trails around the headquarters of Kinabalu National Park on the forest-draped slopes of Mount Kinabalu for our Borneo Birding Tour. This mountain is the highest peak between the Himalayas and the tall ranges of New Guinea. Its huge granite massif holds a spectacular avifauna, with plenty of endemics for us to enjoy. Among these we hope to see or photograph will be the Whitehead’s Trogon, Whitehead’s Broadbill, Fruithunter, Golden-naped Barbet, Crimson-headed and Red-breasted Partridge, Bornean Swiftlet, Bornean Treepie, Bornean Stubtail, Bornean Green Magpie, Bornean Forktail, Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher, Black-sided Flowerpecker, Bare-headed Laughingthrush, Mountain Wren-Babbler, Bornean Whistler, and Chestnut-crested Yuhina, and Everett’s Thrush.

But certainly Borneo Birding Tour will also be on the lookout for other enticing species, some perhaps even found in mixed feeding flocks, like Ochraceous and Cinereous Bulbuls, Chestnut-capped and Sunda Laughingthrushes, Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler, Mountain Leaf Warbler, Yellow-breasted Warbler, Sunda Bush Warbler, White-throated Fantail, Temminck’s Sunbird, and Black-and-crimson Oriole, to name just a few.

The large Borneo mammals fauna is poor on Mount Kinabalu, but there is a delightful host of squirrels ( The Endemic, Kinabalu Squirrels, Whitehead’s Pygmy Squirrel, Borneo Banded Squirrels and Mountain Ground Squirrels) and Borneo treeshrews to look for,even for our Borneo Birding Tour,and have great opportunity to photographing some of these Borneo Endemic Mammals.

Overnight: The Pine Resort , Kundasang(2nd night)

Birding around Kinabalu National Park

Our Borneo Birding Tour will begin with a morning to search for some other bird species that we miss out, such as the endemic Bornean Forktail and “Pale-faced Bulbul”, and the more widespread White-browed Shortwing, We will also again be on the lookout for Mountain Black Eye, Pygmy Whiteye, Fruithunter, Cinereous Bulbul, Bornean Treepie, Bornean Stubtail, Bornean Whistler, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, Whitehead Trogon, whitehead Broadbill, and Mountain Wren-Babbler.

In the afternoon we will once more be birding around the Kinabalu National Park headquarters, looking for anything that we might have missed yesterday. Birds photographing are good.

Overnight: The Pine Resort , Kundasang

Borneo Birding Tour at Poring Hot Spring, transfer to Sepilok (3rd night)

Although in the afternoon today we will have a lengthy drive, Our Borneo Birding Tour will spend a good part of the morning birding at Poring Hot Spring, a small reserve approximately 40 km from Kinabalu National Park. Poring is mainly known for its hot springs, which are a major Bornean local tourist attraction, but the reserve also holds a number of exciting birds. In particular Borneo Birding Tour will be looking for the endemic Hose’s Broadbill, though the chance is low. Here Borneo Birding Tour will take the Langganan Waterfall Trail (if the birding group is fit), trying to find Blue-banded Pitta, and with exceptional luck we might even stumble upon Bornean Banded Pitta, both endemics. During our walk Borneo Birding Tour might also encounter a few less difficult species, like Moustached Babbler, Diard’s Trogon, Black Hornbill, Red-throated Barbet, Plain Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, Bornean Blue Flycatcher, Maroon-breasted Philentoma, Black-naped Monarch, and perhaps also the attractive Scaly-breasted Bulbul.

During the afternoon our Borneo Birding Tour group will drive approximately five hours overland, mainly through endless oil palm plantations, to Sepilok into our Sepilok based birding accommodation. In the evening, our Borneo Birding Tour will organise a leisure night walk in search of local birds, mammals, and other nocturnal creatures.

Overnight: (3rd September 2018) Sepilok Jungle Resort (1st night)

Borneo Birding Tour at Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve and its Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC)

Our Borneo Birding Tour have a full day to explore the area. Borneo Birding Tour will bird part of the 43 square kilometers of the wonderful Dipterocarp forest of the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve with its magnificent walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in the morning, when the birds are most active. This will give our Borneo Birding Tour participants the first chance for Bornean Bristlehead among many other species we are going to encounter here, like Red-naped and Scarlet-Rumped Trogons, Black-capped Babbler, Black-crowned Pitta, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Oriental Dwarf and Rufous-collared Kingfishers, Little, Streaky-breasted, and possibly even Thick-billed, Spectacled, Yellow-eared, and Long-billed Spiderhunters, the endemic Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker, and Dusky Munia, as well as barbets, mid-canopy bulbuls, ground-dwelling babblers, cuckoos, minivets, and many more avian riches that can be found in these wonderfully birdy forest.

Here our Borneo Birding Tour might also see a number of inquisitive Bonean Mammals, squirrels (Bornean Pygmy Squirrels) and possibly some primate species, among which the endearing Bornean Orangutan, maroon leaf monkey might be particularly appreciated.

An optional visit to the famous Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation center for either the morning or the afternoon feeding of these semi-wild primates, along with several other species that take advantage of the free handouts, can be arranged, although it is very likely, but of course not guarantied, that we will see Bornean orangutan in the wild.

Overnight: Sepilok Jungle Resort (2nd Nights)

Borneo Birding Tour to Birding Sepilok, transfer to the Kinabatangan River

After breakfast our Borneo Birding Tour participants will still have time to do some morning birding in Sepilok for any species we might have missed.

Then Borneo Birding Tour will drive 2hrs, overland transfer to Sukau, Kinabatangan River, we will make a stop at the famous Gomantong Caves for short birding, an intricate cave system inside Gomantong Hill, the largest limestone outcrop in the Lower Kinabatangan area. The caves and the surrounding area are a protected area for wildlife, especially orangutans, which are frequently seen at the entrance to the caves, and are well-known in birding circles for the variety of swiftlets inhabiting them, together with a vast array of other wildlife, including massive populations of cockroaches and bats. Here our Borneo Birding Tour have a chance to see four species of swiftlets, which are really only safely told apart by their nests: Edible-nest, Black-nest, Mossy-nest, and Glossy Swiftlets all nest in these caves. There is a boardwalk through the caves that will give us access to the inside of the cave system, where our Borneo Birding Tour be able to see where these birds make their nests and how the local workers collect them for birds-nest soup on intricate rope-and-ladder systems.

After arrival and check-in at the lovely Borneo Nature Lodge, where our Borneo Birding Tour will stay for three nights, Borneo Birding Tour participants will embark in the late afternoon on our first birding river cruise. Some of our main targets on the Kinabatangan River are the endemic Bornean subspecies of Black Magpie, a slate of glittering Kingfishers including Collared, Rufous-collared, Ruddy, Stork-billed, Banded, Blue-eared, and Blue-banded, Red-naped and Scarlet-rumped Trogons, and Hooded Pitta. If we are very lucky we will also find our mega target, the enigmatic, rare, and endemic Bornean Ground Cuckoo.

Overnight: Borneo Nature Lodge (1st night) (BNL)

Borneo Birding Tour at Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary

The Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary is now under the purview of the Sabah Wildlife Department. Despite ever-encroaching oil palm plantations, the original lowland forests and mangrove swamps near the coast have largely survived, providing sanctuary for a population of saltwater crocodiles, and containing some of Borneo’s highest concentrations of wildlife. Of special note are Borneo’s indigenous proboscis monkey, Bornean orangutan, Asian elephant (possibly a full species in its own right), and the endemic Borneo river shark. The sanctuary is also known for its prolific birdlife. Borneo Birding Tour will explore this riveting area for two days.

In the early mornings and mid-afternoons boat trips will take our Borneo Birding Tour participants along the river and its small tributaries. Here Borneo Birding Tour Particpants hope to see wild orangutans feasting on the fruits of riverside fig trees or, in the late afternoon, preparing their night-time nests. Troops of the bizarre proboscis monkey with their huge pot bellies and the males with their extraordinary, floppy noses will watch us curiously. This is also the best place for Borneo Birds and Mammals Photographing Tour participants will get good chance to do wildlife photographing. Many groups of crab-eating macaques will be our constant companions, and Borneo Birding Tour participants might find the occasional silvery lutung (langur) and, with luck, perhaps a Müller’s Bornean gibbon. Borneo Birding Tour participants might even come across a herd of “Bornean pygmy elephants” in this area, or the secretive and rare flat-headed cat.

The forest along the river and its tributaries is home to a wealth of birds, including such spectacular species as Rhinoceros, Helmeted, Black, Oriental Pied, Bushy-crested, Wreathed, White-crowned,and Wrinkled Hornbills, Oriental Pied and Rhinoceros Hornbills, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Lesser and Grey-headed Fish Eagles, Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle, Lesser Adjutant, Black-and-Red and Black-and-Yellow Broadbills, Hooded Pitta, and with luck a pair or two of the endangered Storm’s Stork or a White-fronted Falconet sitting on a snag.

Watching smaller birds from the boat is not really easy, but the lodge grounds are very birdy, and a boardwalk behind our lodge winds its way through the jungle. Between boat trips Borneo Birding Tour participants will explore these areas, hoping to find the delightful Black-crowned Pitta, Asian Red-eyed Bulbul, Violet Cuckoo, the endemic White-crowned Shama, Chestnut-winged Babbler, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Maroon-breasted Philentoma, and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker. In the evening we might see Brown Wood Owl or a Buffy Fish Owl at the jetty.

Overnight: Borneo Nature Lodge (2nd Nights) (BNL)

Borneo Birding Tour to Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (Sukau)- Lahad Datu – Danum Valley

After of morning cruise to look for our wanted birds, Borneo Birding Tour participants will depart overland to Danum Valley and make a stop at Lahad Datu for Lunch (2hrs overland). After lunch Borneo Birding Tour participants will have another 2.5 hr on an adventurous prior logging road, to the Danum Valley Conservation Area and the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. This wonderful, upscale lodge is situated in a large tract of mind-blowing primary rainforest, one of only very few remaining on Borneo after rampant logging and clearing for oil palm plantations. While within much of the conservation area selective logging was allowed, a large part had been set aside for the protection of one of only two remaining expanses of primary lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah.

The Danum Valley Conservation Area boasts 268 avian species, and 110 mammals, 72 reptiles, 56 amphibians and 37 fish species have been recorded here so far. Borneo Birding Tour participants will search for a good selection of especially the birds and mammals during our time in this great habitat.

Borneo Birding Tour participants wish to arrive the lodge by 3pm and get ready for afternoon birding before its getting dark. After dinner, Borneo Birding Tour participants may able to join one of the night drive to look for nocturnal animal as well as night birds. Danum valley serve as one of the best place to search for the rare Bornean clouded leopard.

The entire slate of eight Bornean pittas occurs in Danum Valley. In addition to those listed Black-crowned Pittas, but we particularly hope to find Blue-banded, Bornean Banded, and Blue-headed, and of course also other special target birds like Bornean Blue Flycatcher, White-crowned Shama, and Streaked , Black-throated Wren-Babblers and Bornean ground Babbler.

Overnight: Borneo Birding Tour participants at Borneo Rainforest Lodge

Danum Valley

During our two days in Danum Valley we will explore the excellent system of trails around the lodge as well as the canopy walkway, and after dinner there will be opportunities to go out from the lodge with one of the local guides in search of nocturnal wildlife, either by truck or on foot. Results on night outings are always unpredictable, of course, but with luck we might find something really exciting, like red giant or Thomas’s flying squirrels, colugo, the occasional Bornean slow loris or Horsfield’s tarsier, the tiny Temminck’s flying squirrel, or the giant tree-dwelling Malaysian tarantula.

Danum Valley is a particularly good area for orangutan, which sometimes is even seen within the lodge grounds. Commoner mammal species include crab-eating and southern pig-tailed macaques, a wide variety of both diurnal and nocturnal tree shrews and squirrels, bearded pig, Malay and masked palm civets, both greater and lesser oriental chevrotain, the endemic Bornean yellow muntjac, the much more widespread southern red muntjac, and sambar. The biggest predator here is the Sunda clouded leopard, which is seen on night drives a couple of times a year – so one can always hope.

Among the multitude of birds we hope to encounter here are eight species of hornbills, with the huge Rhinoceros Hornbill seen and heard almost daily. We’ll also be looking for many other specialties, like Great Argus, Bornean Crested Fireback, Black-crowned and Blue-headed Pittas, Bornean Bristlehead, Bornean and Black-throated Wren-Babblers, Sunda Blue and Bornean Blue Flycatchers, Chestnut-naped and White-crowned Forktails, Great-billed Heron, Wallace’s, Rufous-bellied, and Blyth’s Hawk-Eagles, Great Slaty and Olive-backed Woodpeckers, Ashy Tailorbird, Whiskered Treeswift, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, and a host of bulbuls, babblers, flowerpeckers, flycatchers, woodpeckers, drongos, raptors, sunbirds, and spiderhunters.

The heat of the afternoon after lunch allows some relaxed meanderings around the resort, and you can find flowerpeckers and Spiderhunters in the flowering bushes, along with some stunning butterflies.

Overnight: Borneo Rainforest Lodge

Danum Valley – Lahad Datu -Departure

Sadly, our exciting tour to wild Sabah will end today. We will transfer from Danum Valley back to the Lahad Datu airport, where the tour ends. From here you will catch your afternoon flight to Kota Kinabalu to continue from there on your international flights home.