June 17-July 4, 2025 with Megan Edwards Crewe & Jumaidi, Sabinas and Syahfil
What a wonderful time we had in the Bornean rainforest! For more than two weeks, we immersed ourselves in the exotic, verdant steaminess of one of the world's richest jungles, with a plethora of things to look for, and a never-ending stream of birds, mammals, herps, insects and plants to enthrall and entertain us. The weather largely cooperated (if you discount a few afternoons of pouring rain), and the birds -- well, the birds were amazing!
Where do you start a "highlight list" for a trip with so many highlights? Perhaps with the pair of Bornean Bristleheads that flew over our heads and landed atop a tree along the entrance road at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL), or with the bizarre, square-headed pair of Helmeted Hornbills that flapped over several minutes later. Or maybe with the lusciously green quartet of Whitehead's Broadbills that gobbled fruit near the restaurant balcony on Mount Kinabalu, seriously interrupting our breakfast. Perhaps I should start with the jewel-bright Bornean Green-Magpies shrieking at each other along the Mount Kinabalu park road, or the Fruit-hunters sitting quietly on the other side of the little stream along the Silau-Silau trail. Maybe with the elegant Whiskered Treeswifts, or the Sabah Partridge that approached nearly to our boot tips, or the bullet-like Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots that finally descended to earth to nibble flower petals in a vine tangle just below us on the BRL canopy walkway. Or with the solitary male Bornean Pygmy Elephant we found splashing around on the banks of the Kinabatangan in the dark, or the nose-y Proboscis Monkeys draped across branches along the rivers, or the Sunda Jungle Cat trotting down the road in front of us or the surprisingly alien Western Tarsier staring goggle-eyed from the darkness. So many choices!
Our adventure began in Sepilok, with an afternoon walk on the grounds of our first hotel. A fruiting tree in the parking lot attracted a convenient mix of Spectacled and Yellow-eared spiderhunters (plus a plethora of Asian Glossy Starlings), while a nearby stand of flowering bottlebrush attracted both Crimson and Brown-throated sunbirds. Rufous-tailed Tailorbirds twitched along the edges of the driveway, and a trio of Rhinocerous Hornbills shared a massive fruiting fig tree with more than a dozen well-camouflaged Thick-billed Green-Pigeons. Later that evening, a fruitless search for Brown Boobook brought us our first look at a Giant Red Flying Squirrel (waaaaaay up at the top of a huge emergent tree) and numerous Rough-sided Frogs ("What? What?! WHAT?!") The following morning, after an early breakfast at our hotel, we ventured down the road to the Sepilok Rainforest Discover Center. The park, with its extensive trail system and fabulous canopy walkways and towers, provided a great place to start to get familiar with some of Borneo's more widespread species. In the parking lot, Sunda Pygmy and Buff-necked woodpeckers vied for a potential nesthole, a male Copper-throated Sunbird sipped from bright yellow flower spikes and Dusky and Chestnut munias flicked through hedges. The towers and walkway brought us eye level with glittering Verditer Flycatchers, a squirrel-like Red-billed Malkoha, a family group of Black-winged Flycatcher-shrikes, a spread-eagled Greater Coucal sunbathing in the early morning light, a surprisingly red Banded Woodpecker, a busy swarm of Green Ioras and more. As the sun (and heat) rose higher, we descended to ground level to walk the trails. There, we found a pair of gruff-voiced Red-bearded Bee-eaters hunting just off the path, a White-crowned Hornbill lurking in a dense tree and an all-too-brief Crimson-winged Woodpecker with a busy mixed flock. And who will soon forget the very friendly Sabah Partridge, which was clearly used to photographers bringing it tasty morsels?
From there, we went on to the Sukau Rainforest Ecolodge, on the banks of the Kinabatangan River. Here, we traded hot feet for bare toes, as we did much of our exploring by boat, drifting along the main river and several of its tributaries. This area is often great for hornbills, and it didn't disappoint, with Black, Oriental Pied-, Wrinkled, and Rhinoceros hornbills regularly flying over or perched up on treetops, drying out after late afternoon thundershowers. Busy troops of Proboscis Monkeys and Long-tailed Macaques swung through trees or boiled along riverbanks. A White-bellied Sea-Eagle soared over our heads, then plunged into the water right beside our boat, surfacing with a wriggling fish in its talons. Malaysian Blue-Flycatchers made quick little sallies from twigs over the water, while White-chested Babblers hopped along tree roots lower down. Black-and-red Broadbills added bulging mouthfuls to their untidy nests. Storm's Storks posed atop riverside trees and massive Lesser Adjutants soared in wide circles overhead. A Slaty Woodpecker shouted from a nesthole while another clung to a trunk nearby. A Buffy Fish-Owl hunted frogs in a huge rain puddle near the boardwalk to the lodge's dining room, completely ignoring the excited humans nearby. A Changeable Hawk-Eagle stared imperiously down from its riverside perch, and a Crested Goshawk stood spread-eagled in a treetop, drying its wings after a downpour. Blue-eared Kingfishers glittered like gems on their low perches while much larger Stork-billed Kingfishers flew off, calling, in front of our boat. A pair of Bold-striped Tit-Babblers danced through a fallen tree along the river and Yellow-bellied Prinias serenaded from tall grasses along the shore. Brown Barbets played follow-the-leader through treetops and Blue-throated Bee-eaters chased passing prey from bare snags. White-breasted Waterhens gamboled along the riverbanks and a couple of Straw-headed Bulbuls (rare now as they're targeted by the caged bird trade) sang from a scraggly bush not far from the lodge's dock. A couple of night trips turned up some additional treats, including the Bornean Pygmy Elephant splashing around in the dark on the river's edge, a number of pint-sized Saltwater Crocodiles, and a trio of Large Flying Foxes clambering around in a fruiting tree.
From Sukau, we made multiple forays to the Gomantong Caves, famous for their extensive colonies of echo-locating swiftlets. The caves are quite literally breath-taking -- raw with the stench of ammonia emanating from the massive heap of accumulated bat guano, the output of millions of Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bats over hundreds (thousands?) of years. But they're also breathtaking for the number of Black-nest, White-nest, Mossy-nest and Plume-toed swiftlets that shelter there, tucking their distinctive nests into dark corners and crevices throughout. While the edible nests had been recently harvested, we were still able to find a few examples of each nest type with birds conveniently perched on top, so that we could be sure of their identities. The surrounding forest provided more treats, including a plethora of Orangutans -- at least seven right around the cave mouth during our afternoon visit! Elsewhere, a tiny White-fronted Falconet stood atop a dead snag along the main road, while a Banded Broadbill proved more circumspect, sitting quietly on a branch tucked into the middle of a tree. A calling male Diard's Trogon zoomed into view, followed mere minutes later by an equally snazzy male Scarlet-rumped Trogon. White-crowned Shamas bounced along the roadsides and a Maroon Woodpecker tapped and tapped and tapped at something just below a leafy Orangutan's nest. We whistled a couple of Sooty-capped Babblers into view by imitating their disjointed songs, but had a harder time getting views of a skulking pair of Black-throated Babblers. Some saw them well and others only ever saw them zipping back and forth across the road! After considerable effort, we tracked down a calling White-crowned Hornbill and had super views of the female (the male wasn't quite as cooperative) as she peered around from her perch high in a big tree. A little troop of Maroon Langurs worked their way through some nearby trees, stopping now and then to munch as they went. We stayed late enough one evening to watch the emergence of the cave's bats, which left the safety of the cavern in compact groups, the better to avoid the quartet of hunting Bat Hawks. Not all were successful in evading capture!
Next up was the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, a haven of luxury tucked into the virtually untouched primary forest of the Danum Valley. Though the poor condition of the trails kept us on the entrance road for the most part, we still managed to find a wonderful selection of the valley's species. Top of the list was probably the pair of aforementioned Bornean Bristleheads, which have been mighty hard to find in recent years. We'd been enjoying views of a group of Bornean Black Magpies when Patty suddenly exclaimed "Hey, this one has a red head" -- much excitement ensued! The flyby Helmeted Hornbills were probably a close second. We chased pittas for several days before FINALLY actually laying eyes on one (or more): half the group got a quick scope look at a Blue-headed Pitta before it hopped down from its song perch and disappeared, and we all -- eventually -- got a look at a handsome Black-crowned Pitta as it moved through the underbrush along the road. A Black Eagle made great looping dives in an impressive territorial display and two Wallace's Hawk-Eagles chased a squirrel around and around the trunk of a huge emergent tree. We found an abundance of bulbuls: 10 species in all, including appropriately named (and nicely crested) Streaked Bulbuls, handsomely scalloped Scaly-breasted Bulbuls in a fruiting tree, a brief single Puff-backed Bulbul, plenty of Charlotte's Bulbuls (formerly considered a subspecies of the Buff-vented Bulbul), and a surprise pair of Cream-eyed Bulbuls near the little creek under the old canopy walkway's end. Babblers were equally common, with 15 spcies seen -- among them, a pair of Black-capped Babblers parading along the edge of the road, a Striped Wren-Babbler alternately whistling his song and flipping leaves as he worked his way steadily closer to where we stood, cooperative pairs of Black-throated Wren-Babblers and Horsfeld's Babblers mere inches above the leaf litter, and a busy group of Fluffy-backed Tit-Babblers showing their blue eye-surrounds nicely. A White-crowned Forktail waggled its way along the road, a Bornean Spiderhunter shouted challenges from an open perch and family groups of Little Spiderhunters worked the roadsides. Yellow-rumped and Yellow-breasted Flowerpeckers rummaged through shrubs around the lodge.
Our visit to the canopy walkway, still not completely reopened after a fallen tree caused the closure of more than half of it several years ago, was productive despite the truncation. A pair of Lesser Cuckoo-shrikes shared leafy branches with Gray-headed Canary-flycatchers and a Finsch's Bulbul. A snowy-white male Blyth's Paradise-Flycatcher flashed across the clearing, trailing its long tail like a comet. A Velvet-fronted Nuthatch stuck its landing within touching distance on the trunk just over our heads while Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots nibbled flower petals just below our feet. A night walk on the nature trail brought an amazingly pink leaf katydid, a trio of point-blank treefrog species, another Buffy Fish-Owl (sitting atop the soccer goal), a trio of Sambar grazing near the staff quarters, and a spectacular collection of moths. Night drives yielded a trio of civets (including the gorgeously patterned Malay Civet), both Thomas's and Giant Red Flying Squirrels (one of the latter which made a prodigious leap from one tree to another 100+ yards away, gliding right over our vehicles), a couple of tiny Greater (it's all relative) Indo-Malaysian Chevrotains, the tarsier and that oh-so-energetic Sunda Jungle Cat. After three days in the relative wilderness, we made the three-hour drive back to Lahad Datu, where we caught our afternoon flight to Kota Kinabalu.
Leaving Kota Kinabalu in the dark the next morning, we headed to the Crocker Range, winding our way slowly up switchback after switchback as we climbed. By daybreak, we'd reached our first birding spot -- Gunung Alab, the highest point in the Crocker Range National Park. Leaving our bus on the lower slopes, we ambled our way up to the summit, where a veritable feast of goodies awaited us. First up were an obliging half-dozen Red-breasted Partridges swarming over a tangle of logs (which had been sprinkled with seeds by a photography group that was departing as we arrived). They were soon followed by a trio of Crimson-headed Partridges, with a male that posed stockstill in the open while his warier female companions clucked from the trees. An Orange-headed Thrush sitting quietly above the commotion was an added bonus. A noisy generator powering a communication tower nearby made conversation a bit challenging (and belched some mighty smelly diesel fumes), but fruiting trees in the area attracted a couple of Mountain Black-eyes, several retina-searing Temminck's Sunbirds, a subtly-hued Golden-naped Barbet, a whirlwind of Gray-chinned Minivets, and a surprisingly confiding Mountain Barbet. Two noisy Bornean Treepies, trailing long tails behind them, swooped across the hillside and a showy pair of Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrushes investigated nearby vegetation. The barbed wire fence around the tower itself proved irresistibly convenient for hunting Indigo and Little Pied flycatchers, a busy gang of Chestnut-crested Yuhinas, and a half dozen Ashy Drongos. A flighty Bornean Forktail flicked off the road before everybody got a look, but Aberrant Bush Warblers proved far more cooperative, twitching along the edges of dense thickets of ferns as they foraged. The park's lower slopes were less productive, but we did add a couple of Gray-cheeked Bulbuls (in nice comparison with a nearby Penan Bulbul), a Little Cuckoo-Dove gobbling berries, and a quartet of handsomely crested Bornean Bulbuls. Then we were back on the bus for the two-plus hour journey to Mount Kinabalu National Park, on the slopes of Borneo's highest mountain.
We finished our tour with a stint at Kinabalu NP, which was blessedly cool after the heat of the lowlands. Borneo's heights are where most of the island's endemics are found, and with a few notable exceptions (we're talking to you, Mountain Serpent-Eagle and Pygmy Heleia), they and a host of other species cooperated very nicely indeed. We scored the coveted "Whitehead's trio", with multiple views of a pair of confiding Whitehead's Trogons posing photogenically along the road, at least four Whitehead's Broadbills gobbling fruits near the Liwagu restaurant (and later moving up the road to the entrance gate) and a Whitehead's Spiderhunter visiting a flowering tree near our lunch restaurant -- and interrupting the proceedings every time it made an appearance, to the bemusement of our fellow diners. We had encounters with several rare Everett's Thrushes: one in the early morning half-light that disappeared into the dark forest before everybody got much of a look and a second that hopped around right in the middle of the park road in the middle of the afternoon. Wow! Early mornings around the Timpohon Gate were always fun, as a busy mixed flock gleaned insects drawn in overnight by the generating station's lights. Indigo Flycatchers and Ashy Drongos hunted from the fence top while Mountain Leaf-warblers, Yellow-breasted Warblers ("Pumpkinheads"), Chestnut-crested Yuhinas and Gray-chinned Minivets swarmed through the treetops. Bornean Treepies and dozens of Sunda and Chestnut-headed laughingthrushes moved through in waves (the latter sometimes hopping around in the grass right near us), sometimes with other species in tow -- a Black-and-crimson Oriole one day, a couple of Sunda Cuckooshrikes on another. A Mountain Tailorbird moved through the bushes with a loudly begging chick in insistent pursuit, a group of Gray-throated Babblers rummaged along the roadside, and a couple of Pale-faced Bulbuls gobbled berries beside the path. A noisy group of Mountain Wren-Babblers worked along the roadside (distracting some of us from the trogons), and a tiny Bornean Stubtail enchanted us as it sang (quite inaudibly for some) from atop a fallen log.
We ventured to the other side of the mountain one afternoon, visiting the hill forest around Poring Springs in search of Rafflesia flowers. Though we weren't lucky enough to see an open bloom, we did find a basketball-sized bud that was within days of unfolding, and that was pretty impressive too! Rambling around the fringes of the park's hot springs -- and up the hill past the orchid garden (which siphoned off a fair number of the group for a bit), we added a hunting Fulvous-chested Jungle-Flycatcher, a bright pair of Scarlet Minivets and a trio of Asian Fairy-Bluebirds, plus another showy Banded Broadbill and a busy Rufous Piculet.
After a final lunch in the mountains, we descended to Kota Kinabalu, stopping at the city's Prince Philip park in the late afternoon. And what a fitting finale that proved to be! With the blue, blue South China Sea forming a scenic backdrop and cool breezes riffling the omnipresent palm trees, we spent a pleasant hour getting better looks at things and notching up a few new species. Colorful Pink-necked Green-Pigeons and Green Imperial-Pigeons foraged in fruiting trees along one side of the open area while Spotted and Zebra doves rummaged in the lawns below. A Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker spent long minutes hammering on eye-level branches right in front of us. Blue-naped Parrots and Long-tailed Parakeets gathered in roost trees, gabbling noisily to each other. White-breasted Woodswallows made repeated sallies from telephone wires. Crimson and Ornate sunbirds flicked through flowering bushes while a Pied Triller warbled from an open branch. And to finish our visit, a pair of Pied Imperial-Pigeons (uncommon on the main island) flew in and perched atop a nearby tree -- a lifer species for both of your guides! Our final species were a pair of Hooded Crows we spotted as we waited at a traffic light and a flyby Nankeen Night-Heron for a few as we passed some wetlands on the way to our hotel.
Thanks so much for joining me in amazing Borneo. It was fun to share some adventures with all of you! Thanks also to our local guides, who added so much to the mix, and to Karen in our office for setting things up so that our trip went smoothly. I hope to see you all again in the field somewhere, some day. Meanwhile, good birding!
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/386326
You can see my iNaturalist report of non-avian taxa at this link: https://inaturalist.org/projects/field-guides-june-july-2025-borneo-tour
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/bor25bTRIPLIST.pdf
-- Megan