Saturday, 16 May 2026

Sabah, Malaysia : Apr - May 2026

Sabah is no doubt one of my favourite birding location on earth, it is easy to get to, infrastructure is generally good, food is great and birds are brilliant! So, when my good birding friend John Hansford wanted to do some birding in SE Asia, I immediately suggested Sabah as our first option. I planned out a 10 days itinerary and booked all the flights, rental car and accommodation. He flew from London to Hong Kong, and we set off together towards Kota Kinabalu.

Day 1 - Hong Kong to Tambunan

The Air Asia flight was on time, and we managed to get our rental car pretty quickly, it was a smooth two hours drive from Kota Kinabalu towards Tambunan. Along the way we added a few common species for John. We arrived at the Padi View Resthouse at around 8pm, where we were to stay two nights. The hotel was simple but very clean and comfortable, the staffs were very helpful as well, I highly recommend it for anyone heading to Tambunan.


Padi View Resthouse

Day 2 - Trusmadi Birdhide

The Bulwer’s Pheasant has put Trusmadi onto the map for birders in the last couple of years. Having dipped on it last time I was hoping to finally catchup with this species, but to my huge disappointment the Bulwer’s Pheasants went missing a month before our trip. Still, we decided to give KK Lee’s bird hide a try, as the supporting cast of birds there are all lifers for John. We got there at 6am, and met with the ground keepers at the hide, who took us upslope to the partridge hide. It didn’t take long for birds to start appearing, we had good views of birds like Sunda Scimitar-Babblers, Penan Bulhul, Temminck’s Babbler and Grey-throated Babblers.

View out of the partridge hide


Sunda Scimitar-Babbler

Penan Bulbul


Temminck's Babbler

Grey-throated Babbler

A few Crested Partridges appeared. This species is notoriously difficult to see in the wild, so the bird hides works wonders for such species.


Crested Partridge - female


Crested Partridge - male

Both Crimson-headed and Red-breasted Partridges came in later on, these montane endemics are key targets for birders visiting Sabah, we had brilliant views of both species at the hide.

Crimson-headed Partridge - male

Crimson-headed Partridge - female

Red-breasted Partridge

Other birds that came in through includes a male Rufous-chested Flycatcher and a Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher, both generally scarce species. 

Rufous-chested Flycatcher - male


Fulvous-breasted Jungle Flycatcher

One of the star of the hide were no doubt a pair of Bornean Banded Pittas, which came back and forth collecting food for its young somewhere out of view. The male occasionally came in within a metre to us, the female was more shy and stayed further back.




Bornean Banded Pitta - male

Bornean Banded Pitta - female

Later in the morning we headed down to the main hide, which is one of the most well equipped bird hide I have ever been to, you can enjoy a hot cup of coffee while you are birding there. We had more great views of many of the similar species, an Orange-headed Thrush also came in occasionally. Dayak Blue Flycatcher was a nice addition, we had a pair that frequented the hide. Many Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrushes came through as well as a few Asian Emerald Doves also dropped in.

Covered walkway all the way down to the main hide, you don't even have to get wet in the rain!

Orange-headed Thrush - male

Dayak Blue Flycatcher - female

Dayak Blue Flycatcher - male

Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush

Asian Emerald Dove - juvenile

Seeing that we probably have seen all that is to see at the hides, we headed back into Tambunan for lunch. After lunch we decided to drive up towards Gunung Alab for a stroll up towards the sub-station. Here, we added great views of a few Temminck’s Sunbirds. Further up we encountered a feeding flock with Sunda Laughingthrushes, Bornean Treepie, Bornean Whistler, Chestnut-crested Yuhina, White-throated Fantails and a Maroon Woodpecker, but the mist made it difficult to photograph any birds.

Temminck's Sunbird - male

Further up, we caught a glimpse of a flock of Wreathed Hornbills flew by in the distant, and had brief views of a Mountain Serpent Eagle glided right past our heads. Both left me without any photo record. We later on headed down towards Rafflesia Centre to bird along the road but didn’t see much except for a distant White-browed Shrike-babbler. On our way back to Tambunan we had great views of a few Grey-rumped Treeswifts by the road.

Grey-rumped Treeswift - male


Grey-rumped Treeswift - female

Day 3 - Gunung Alab Birdwatching Point

Early morning we headed up towards Gunung Alab bird hide that is also run by KK Lee, where we finally met him in person. Upon arriving we were drawn to the numerous moths attracted to the moth sheets. The establishment is well maintained and extremely well set-up.

Gunung Alab Birdwatching Point

We enjoyed numerous species coming in to feed on the moths, as well as some supplementary meal worms for a few ground dwelling species. It was amazing to be able to see assorted species up close. 

Temminck's Sunbird - male

White-throated Fantail


White-browed Shrike-babbler - male

Bornean Treepie

Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush

Sunda Laughingthrush

Sunda Scimitar-Babbler

Little Pied Flycatcher - female

Little Pied Flycatcher - male

Yellow-breasted Warbler

Black-capped White-eye

A few star species here includes a Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher, a pair of Bornean Green Magpies and an extremely confiding male Bornean Shortwing! We even had a Whitehead’s Pygmy Squirrel which came through.

Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher



Bornean Green Magpie


Bornean Shortwing - male

Whitehead's Pygmy Squirrel

Later in the morning we waited over at the platform overlooking a flowering tree, where the Whitehead’s Spiderhunter occasionally comes in to feed. The Spiderhunter unfortunately never came in, probably because the flowers were close to the end of its bloom, the best bird we managed was probably a Mountain Serpent Eagle, an Oriental Honey Buzzard flew by later on for a good comparison. Bornean Leafbirds came in and out of the tree, while a pair of Golden-naped Barbet was seen nesting nearby.

Mountain Serpent Eagle

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Bornean Leafbird - male

Bornean Leafbird - female

Golden-naped Barbet

After lunch we drove towards Mount Kinabalu, which took roughly two hours, google maps took us on a short cut through the most terrible road! For anyone driving from Tambunan to Mount Kinabalu, it is much better to take the longer route through Renau. We checked in to the Ayana holiday resort and had a little rest, to my surprise I heard the call of the Whitehead’s Spiderhunter! I looked outside but didn’t manage to see it. In the afternoon we didn’t really fit much birding in, we only added Mountain Tailorbirds near the park entrance.

Mountain Tailorbird

Day 4 - Mount Kinabalu

The world heritage site of Mount Kinabalu is no doubt one of the best birding site in the world to see most of the montane endemics of Borneo. We headed up towards the park bright and early, since the permit office was already closed when we arrived the day before, we were unable to get the permit to drive up to Timpohon gate, so we opted to bird the lower parts of Power Station Road. Along the road we had amazing views of a female Bornean Shortwing, and close views of a pair of Bornean Stubtails feeding by the roadside! Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher was also seen.

View of Mount Kinabalu in the morning

Bornean Shortwing - female

Bornean Stubtail

Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher

We headed down towards the back of Kinabalu Hall, hoping to wait for the Whitehead’s Spiderhunter at the blooming Wightia borneensis. I was quite hopeful at first, as the flowers seem to be attracting many Temminck’s Sunbirds and Black-capped White-eyes. We waited and waited but the Spiderhunter never showed. By 11am we gave up and headed to the permit office, and then to lunch.

Temminck's Sunbird feeding on the Wightia tree

After lunch we waited at the tree for another hour without any luck, and we decided to go further up Power Station Road to look for other birds. We saw very few birds to begin with, but we finally struck some luck when we met some other birders just below the 2km mark, there we finally saw a trio of Whitehead's Broadbill! Despite the mist they showed quite well.

Whitehead's Broadbill - male

Whitehead's Broadbill - female

With heavy mist encroaching, conditions were less than favourable. Only notable addition were a pair of Checker-throated Woodpeckers, a lifer for John. We tried our luck one last time at the flowering tree down by Kinabalu Hall, a pair of Bornean Whistling Thrush were nesting there and gave good views, but no spiderhunter to be seen.

Checker-throated Woodpecker

Bornean Whistling Thrush

Day 5 - Mount Kinabalu

After a rather mediocre day, I was hoping we would have better luck. We decided to head all the way up to Timpohon Gate first thing in the morning, hoping to catch some birds there in the early morning. A Golden-naped Barbet was seen feeding along the road, while a male Indigo Flycatcher was seen hawking for insects in the toilet, and feeding a female, no doubt having paired up together.

Golden-naped Barbet


Indigo Flycatcher - male & female

John taking photo of the Indigo Flycatcher mere a few feet away from us

Despite the lack of Fruithunter, we had a Sunda Cuckooshrike came through with a few Bornean Treepies. An Aberrant Bush Warbler came out in full view just under the platform. Nearby, a Bornean Whistler showed quite well.

Sunda Cuckooshrike

Bornean Treepie

Aberrant Bush Warbler

Bornean Whistler

A little lower down, we stumbled upon a pair of very showy Long-tailed Broadbills, a species I have never previously seen on Mt Kinabalu! Though a fairly common species in Peninsula Malaysia and Thailand, it seems to be far less common in Sabah.


Long-tailed Broadbill - a bit of a surprise!

Around mid-morning we decided to head back down to the flowering Wightia tree, the wait began all over again. This time we opted to wait a little higher up closer to the road for a better view of the surrounding. At roughly 10:20am, a larger than white-eye bird was spotted flying directly into the tree, I raised my binoculars, and sure enough I was looking at a Whitehead's Spiderhunter! Unfortunately, by the time I raised my camera it had hopped behind a bit of leaf and more obscured than it was before, the bird only stayed for around 20 seconds before flying off into the distant! It was so strange that it did not feed on any of the blooming flowers, perhaps there was something not to its liking, but at least we saw the bird!


Whitehead's Spiderhunter - finally!

Having now gotten two of the three Whitehead's trio, we focused our efforts on the Whitehead's Trogon after lunch. Having heard from other birders that one was seen around noon the previous day at around 1.8km mark, we drove there to try our luck. To my surprise, a red bird fluttered off the branch and landed in front of me, what can it be but a male Whitehead's Trogon! It perched there in perfect view, allowing us to take in all of its glorious details. This is still no doubt my favourite of the Whitehead's trio.

Whitehead's Trogon - male

I wanted to try for Fruithunter around the Mempening Trail, where I have seen there years ago. Despite not finding any Fruithunter, we were rewarded with decent views of a few Bare-headed Laughingthrushes! Sometimes referred as one of the hardest endemic on Mount Kinabalu, I managed a few record shots of the birds.



Bare-headed Laughingthrush

We drove up towards Timpohon Gate again, hoping for any sign of Fruithunters, but it was quiet up there with only a few Bornean Treepies and Temminck's Sunbirds seen.

Bornean Treepie

Temminck's Sunbird - male

Later in the afternoon, we drove down towards Kundasang, by the roadside we had brilliant views of a pair of White-fronted Falconets! We had wonderful views of this cute Bornean endemic at eye-level.



White-fronted Falconet

Back at the hotel grounds we scanned the Wightia trees nearby for spiderhunter with little luck, but a pair of Verditer Flycatchers and Ashy Drongos showed well there. At night, we got so close to seeing a Mountain Scops Owl, only for it to slipped away at the last moment! Overall, a much better day compared the the last!

Verditer Flycatcher - male

Ashy Drongo - race stigmatops

Day 6 - Mount Kinabalu to Sepilok

This was our last morning at Mount Kinabalu, we wanted to give the Fruithunter one last try, so we headed straight up to Timpohon Gate in the morning again. Unfortunately, despite our efforts we did not connect with this montane endemic. I spotted two small birds feeding very high up in the tree, through my binoculars I recognized them as Mountain Black-eye, another montane endemic! Eventually, we had incredible views of this often underrated species.


Mountain Black-eye

A few Little Cuckoo-doves gave good views near the gate, seeing there weren't that many birds around we headed down hill. Along the way we met up with Liew, who was guiding a tour around Sabah! He just so happened to be watching a Sunda Owlet, so we managed to get a good look at this tiny owl which is often heard more than seen.

Little Cuckoo-dove

Sunda Owlet

Around mid-morning we drove back towards Kota Kinabalu, where we stopped at Tanjung Aru for some birding. Unfortunately, the park is being renovated, so we couldn't really go into the park properly, we could only do some birding around the car park area, where we added some common birds, including the endemic race of Oriental Magpie Robin. A few Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers showed very well, while a Rufous Night Heron also gave great views. It was a bit unfortunate that we dipped on the Blue-naped Parrots, but with the park in renovation, it was difficult to look for them from afar.

Oriental Magpie Robin - male race pluto


Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Rufous Night Heron

We took the afternoon flight to Sandakan, where we were met by my good friend Jason when we landed. That evening we didn't really do much, except went out to the back of Sepilok Jungle Resort to look at a North Philippine Temple Pit Viper.


North Philippine Temple Pit Viper

Day 7 - Sepilok

Since we couldn't buy the entrance ticket for the Rainforest Discovery Centre the day before, we thought we would just start off with some birding around the grounds of the Resort. The old plantation behind Sepilok Jungle Resort is in itself quite a good birding area, and offers many species that are also found at the Rainforest Discovery Centre. Things started off rather quietly, with not much birds being seen except for a few Rufous-tailed and Ashy Tailorbirds.

Ashy Tailorbird

It wasn't until we spotted a few rather obscured Orangutans that Jason heard something exciting, the call of the Bornean Bristlehead! We tried to pinpoint the call and started sprinting towards it, while John was still trying to look at the Orangutans! It took us a little while, but after some searching I finally spotted the bird calling from an open perch! We had absolutely fantastic view of one of the most wanted bird in Borneo. We later saw the same bird again, this time foraging lower down! An absolute dream to see the 'grail bird' within the first hour of our first morning here at Sepilok!




Bornean Bristlehead - the 'grail bird' at Sepilok!

We also added a pair of Black-and-Yellow Broadbills, which came down and gave us great looks. While back around the lake by the restaurant a pair of Black-and-Red Broadbills were nesting nearby, and occasionally would perch quite close to the walkway.


Black-and-Yellow Broadbill

Black-and-Red Broadbill

During breakfast, a lovely Blue-eared Kingfisher delightfully flew in, a species I see every time I visit Sepilok. Crimson Sunbirds also frequent the flowering bushes around the restaurant.


Blue-eared Kingfisher

Crimson Sunbird - male

An Asian Water Monitor swam in to grab a fish out of the lake, we followed it and got great looks at this large lizard trying to swallow a Tilapia bigger than it's head!

Asian Water Monitor

Robert the resident cook and part-time birdguide agreed to take us around Rainforest Discovery Centre that afternoon. Before we got there, Jason drove us around to a Baya Weaver colony to look at the nesting birds. When we arrived at RDC, a few Brown-backed Needletails were swooping around very low over the lake.

Baya Weaver - male

Brown-backed Needletail

We met Robert up on the canopy walkway, where we stationed ourselves on the hornbill tower, the water filled tree hollow attracted a few birds to come for a drink and bathe in the heat, such as Plain Sunbird, Red-throated Sunbird, Thick-billed Spiderhunter and Lesser Green Leafbird.

Canopy Walkway at Rainforest Discovery Centre

Plain Sunbird

Red-throated Sunbird - female

Thick-billed Spiderhunter

Lesser Green Leafbird - female

A Red-billed Malkoha also came through, a species I have not seen in Sepilok previously. Robert heard the call of a Trogon below the tower, we followed the sound down, and was soon rewarded with amazing views of a lovely male Red-naped Trogon! While a fairly common species at Sepilok, seeing one so well is always a thrill.

Red-billed Malkoha


Red-naped Trogon - male

Over to the Broadbill tower, we spotted a Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, a Buff-necked Woodpecker, a few Charlotte's and Streaked Bulbuls, and a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo without its streamer.

Black-and-Yellow Broadbill

Buff-necked Woodpecker - male

Streaked Bulbul

Greaer Racket-tailed Drongo

On our way back to the entrance, we spotted a White-bellied Sea Eagle. A Rhinoceros Hornbill also gave us good looks, another very iconic species to the lowland rainforest of Borneo.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Rhinoceros Hornbill - male

Back out towards the park entrance, we had a Blue-tailed Bee-eater that allowed us to get quite close, while a fruiting fig tree by the car park provided us with good views of Black-eared Barbets. We also added a few Dusky Munias, which is often referred to as the dullest looking Bornean endemic.

Blue-throated Bee-eater

Black-eared Barbet
Dusky Munia - dull but an endemic species nonetheless

Back at the Resort, Jason spotted us a very confiding Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, a colourful little bird that is never easy to get a good look at, given how most views involves flying birds.

Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot

After one too many celebratory beers after dinner, Jason suggested us to try for the Oriental Bay Owl that was supposedly calling nearby. We gathered our gears and set off towards the back of the resort. We soon had a few birds calling nearby, we only had two frustratingly close but brief views of the bird! It took some more of fumbling around in the dark, but our efforts were rewarded when Jason finally found a bird perched very close to us, at eye-level! It was an incredible sighting, of what is one of the most iconic owl of Southeast Asia!

Oriental Bay Owl - extremely close encounter!

Day 8 - Sepilok

Having bought the ticket into RDC the day before, we could go in before the park opens officially. Although, our first good bird was actually a White-bellied Woodpecker at the resort, which John nearly missed as he went to get something from the room...Luckily the bird waited for him, even allowing him to get a good photo! Nearby, a Long-tailed Parakeet perched high up for a better look.

White-bellied Woodpecker - female

Long-tailed Parakeet

We heard North Bornean Grey Gibbons singing their morning chorus soon after we entered RDC, and we were fortunate enough to get a good look at them by the canopy walkway! There were many Pig-tailed Macaques along there.

North Bornean Grey Gibbon

Pig-tailed Macaque

There are always many 'brown' bulbuls around Sepilok, but its always a good idea to check them as there are many species that can be found here, including Olive-winged and Red-eyed Bulbuls, two of the most common bulbuls here.

Olive-winged Bulbul

Red-eyed Bulbul

The Wallace's Hawk Eagle was back on its nesting tree, we had great views of it perched very close up on the Hornbill Tower. Kingfisher Trail was extremely quiet, we didn't really see anything except for a few very confiding Bornean Black-capped Babblers.

Wallace's Hawk Eagle

Bornean Black-capped Babbler

No visit to Sepilok is completed without seeing the endemic Black-crowned Pitta! We were delighted to see the bird was already there when we arrived at the stakeout along Pitta Path. This bird used to be a lot harder to get years ago, but is now relatively easy, although good views is still not guaranteed by any means.


Black-crowned Pitta - star bird of Sepilok

We were surprised by the lack of Sabah Partridge, as one male is known to forage close to the stakeout and would always follow people around. Luckily, we met a local birder and he pointed out the bird sometimes wander off further than previously, we followed his advice and went higher up, sure enough the confiding male just sat in the open for us!


Sabah Partridge

In the afternoon, we decided to visit the Sun Bear Conservation Centre and the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, as John wanted to get some photos of an Orangutan. Both are worth visiting if you have the time, as the exhibitions of the newly refurbished Sun Bear Conservation Centre was quite well put together, while you are always guarantee to get good viewings of Orangutans during feeding time. We even added a few Red Leaf Monkeys while we were there.

Sun Bear Conservation Centre


Malayan Sun Bear

Red Leaf Monkey

Orangutan

We headed back into RDC after a little rest, having heard Banded Kingfisher calling in the morning, I wanted to try again. Luckily for us, we heard it singing again by the canopy walkway! We scanned through the trees when Jason suddenly exclaimed he spotted the male Banded Kingfisher right beneath our feet! While him and John enjoyed views from above, I walked down to the trail and managed to get a decent view of it, the bird later even flew up to eye-level with the canopy walkway, a real treat to see this spectacular species!



Banded Kingfisher - male race melanops

Rest of the afternoon at RDC was a little quiet, we had yet another Rhinoceros Hornbill and a pair of Black Hornbills at the cafe outside of RDC.

Rhinoceros Honrbill - female

Black Hornbill - male & female

That evening, we booked a night walk at RDC. We opted for the public walk, which had us in a group of 7 participants in total. As with all night walks there, we started off watching the Red Giant Flying Squirrels from the canopy walkway. An impressive sight as always to see them gliding past over your head!


Red Giant Flying Squirrel

Other highlights includes a Wesern Tarsier and a Philippine Slow Loris, both showed very well. There were also several Tarantulas seen plus up to three North Philippine Temple Pit Vipers, overall a very successful evening! We also heard Sunda Scops Owl, Brown Boobook and Barred Eagle Owls during the walk, but didn't really get any chance to see them.


Western Tarsier


Philippine Slow Loris

Tarantula sp.

North Philippine Temple Pit Viper

Day 9 - Sepilok to Kota Kinabalu

This was our last morning at Sepilok, we opted to just walk around the Resort hoping to add a few more species to our trip list. A pair of Banded Woodpeckers showed well early on, which was a good sign having just heard them the last two days.

Banded Woodpecker - male

Purple-naped Spiderhunter gave decent views, while a White-crowned Shama perched up close to us for a better look at this Sabah endemic.

Purple-naped Spiderhunter

White-crowned Shama

We listened out for Bornean Bristlheads again but heard nothing. A Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher finally gave us good views after two days of brief flight views, this stunner stayed as long as we wanted and was not at all shy to show off its amazing colours.


Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher - race motleyi

A bit further on we tried the now abandoned feeding station, a very confiding Yellow-bellied Bulbul gave us good views. I managed to call in a family group of Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler, while not a rare bird, they can be tricky to see well at times. Before we headed back for breakfast we even added a fly-by Bornean Black Magpie.

Yellow-bellied Bulbul


Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler

Finally, we enjoyed fabulous views of the pair of Stork-billed Kingfishers at the restaurant while we were having breakfast, no doubt a specialty here at Sepilok Jungle Resort!


Stork-billed Kingfisher

We bid farewell to Jason at the airport, and flew out of Sandakan back to Kota Kinabalu on an afternoon flight. We didn't do anymore birding while we were at Kota Kinabalu, as heavy rain came in late afternoon so it was probably wise to stay indoor. The next day we caught the morning flight back to Hong Kong, arriving at noon.

Me, Jason, John and Robert

As my 8th visit to the island of Borneo, I still find it an incredible location to visit, there are always some good birds to be seen, and incredible amount of interesting wildlife all around you. Being John's first visit to Sabah and first time properly birding around Southeast Asia, there were certainly more lifers for him than me! Nonetheless, I had just as much fun trying to find new birds for him than getting any lifers for myself, I still have to pinch myself to realize we managed to nail the Whitehead's trio plus the Bornean Bristlehead in one trip! Which was simply incredible! I would like to thank many people who helped us along the way, including Mason Lai whom we met at Mount Kinabalu, who gave us many great pointers, Liew for always helping out and answering all my questions even while he is guiding a tour himself. Jason and Robert for their amazing hospitality and helping us maximize our time at Sepilok! All in all, an enjoyable and relatively successful trip despite the lack of my now nemesis bird Bulwer's Pheasant, we recorded over 180 species in just 9 days in Sabah.

Full trip list: https://ebird.org/tripreport/514731

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