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Birding Bristleheads & Broadbills, Sabah 2026

Bornean Bristlehead perched on a branch, Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Bornean Bristlehead, Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

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Trip report by Chris Townend and Hazwan Subwan, Wise Birding Holidays

A Bornean Bristlehead at close range, a displaying Bornean Peacock-Pheasant and a female Whitehead's Broadbill caught incubating on the nest: this Sabah birding tour report covers thirteen nights chasing Borneo's toughest endemics across the island's best birding country. Chris Townend and Hazwan Subwan of Wise Birding Holidays led seven clients from the Trus Madi Bird Hide to Kinabalu Park, Sepilok, Gomantong Caves, the Kinabatangan River and Tabin Wildlife Reserve between 14 and 27 April 2026 — 274 bird species and 39 mammal species recorded, with the full checklists further down this page.

7 Wise Birding clients. Leaders: Chris Townend and Hazwan Subwan.

Trus Madi Bird Hide

View from the Trus Madi bird hide, a cleared forest floor platform

Trus Madi Bird Hide. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

As birding tourism grows across Southeast Asia, hides like this one — a community-led ecotourism project that has quietly turned a little-known site into one of Sabah's premier spots for rare endemics since it opened in the early 2020s — have become the most reliable way to see many of Borneo's toughest forest species. The group spent four hours here at dawn on their first full day and were rewarded immediately: a stunning male and female Bornean Banded Pitta bouncing around the forest floor, plus Crested Partridge, Red-breasted Partridge and Orange-headed Thrush.

Male and female Bornean Banded Pitta perched together, Trus Madi bird hide

Male and female Bornean Banded Pitta, Trus Madi Bird Hide. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Mount Kinabalu National Park & Ulu Telupid Forest Reserve

Mount Kinabalu rising above forested ridges under a clear blue sky

Kinabalu Park. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Three nights on the mountain's edge gave two full days in the park's cool montane forest — Whitehead's Trogon, Bare-headed Laughingthrush, Bornean Green Magpie, Bornean Stubtail and Bornean Forktail among the highlights, plus a memorable morning with a male Whitehead's Broadbill and a female incubating on the nest.

Female Whitehead's Broadbill incubating at the nest, Mount Kinabalu National Park

Female Whitehead's Broadbill at the nest, Kinabalu Park. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Male Whitehead's Trogon perched in montane forest, Mount Kinabalu National Park

Male Whitehead's Trogon, Kinabalu Park. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

A worthwhile diversion en route to Sepilok took the group to a bird hide in the Ulu Telupid Forest Reserve, reliable since 2021 for one of the world's most difficult pheasants to see in the wild — the endemic Bornean Peacock-Pheasant — while showing how ecotourism can give local communities a real incentive to protect the forest around it. A strutting, calling male gave fabulous views at very close range.

Male Bornean Peacock-Pheasant displaying its iridescent tail feathers, Ulu Telupid Forest Reserve

Bornean Peacock-Pheasant, Ulu Telupid Forest Reserve. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre

The elevated Skywalk canopy walkway through rainforest at Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre

The Skywalk, Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Two nights at Sepilok gave time for the forest trails and the 600-metre canopy walkway — Black-crowned Pitta, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Sabah Partridge, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Barred Eagle Owl and, best of all, a distant but very welcome Bornean Bristlehead. The Skywalk is also one of the best places in Borneo to see a Giant Red Flying Squirrel actually gliding, and dusk delivered exactly that; two night walks below turned up Sunda Scops Owl and Hose's Pygmy Flying Squirrel.

Black-crowned Pitta on the forest floor, Sepilok

Black-crowned Pitta, Sepilok. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Rufous-collared Kingfisher perched on a branch, Sepilok

Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Sepilok. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Gomantong Forest & Caves

Hundreds of thousands of bats streaming out of the forest canopy at dusk, Gomantong Caves

The nightly bat exodus, Gomantong Caves. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

An afternoon at Gomantong produced Ruddy Kingfisher and Sunda Blue Flycatcher in the forest, plus the group's first Bornean Orangutans, before the real spectacle: after a steep climb to a viewpoint, hundreds of thousands of bats poured out of the caves at dusk in swirling columns, drawing in a remarkable mix of raptors hunting the emergence — Wallace's Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Bat Hawk and an incredibly dark ernesti-subspecies Peregrine Falcon.

Dark ernesti subspecies Peregrine Falcon in flight, Gomantong Caves

Peregrine Falcon (ernesti subspecies), Gomantong Caves. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Kinabatangan River

The Kinabatangan River winding through forested banks

Kinabatangan River. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Daily boat trips on the Kinabatangan, including after dark, turned up the critically endangered Straw-headed Bulbul in beautiful early light, White-crowned and Wrinkled Hornbill, Oriental Bay Owl and Buffy Fish Owl, alongside daily Proboscis Monkey sightings, more orangutans, Sunda Silvery Langurs, a Reticulated Python and three Bornean Elephants in the early evening.

Proboscis Monkey feeding in the canopy, Kinabatangan River

Proboscis Monkey, Kinabatangan River. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Wrinkled Hornbill perched on a bare branch, Kinabatangan River

Wrinkled Hornbill, Kinabatangan River. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Bornean Elephant walking along a riverbank, Kinabatangan River

Bornean Elephant, Kinabatangan River. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve

A safari vehicle on a forest track at Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Three nights closed out the trip at Tabin, quieter and less visited than Danum Valley despite holding many of the same key species. Daytime drives and walks produced the best Bornean Bristlehead views of the trip, Green Broadbill, Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfisher, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Black-throated and Bornean Wren-Babbler and Crested Jayshrike; night drives added Sunda Frogmouth, Large-tailed Nightjar and at least two Sunda Leopard Cats. Eastern Grey Gibbons fed right outside the rooms most mornings — easier here than almost anywhere else in Sabah.

Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfisher perched on a branch, Tabin

Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfisher, Tabin. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Sunda Leopard Cat in undergrowth at night, Tabin

Sunda Leopard Cat, Tabin. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Eastern Grey Gibbon hanging from a branch, Tabin

Eastern Grey Gibbon (Northern Grey Gibbon on this site), Tabin. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Straw-headed Bulbul perched on a bare branch, Kinabatangan River

Straw-headed Bulbul, Kinabatangan River. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Kota Kinabalu Coast

Tanjung Aru Beach at Kota Kinabalu, with trees lining the shore

Tanjung Aru Beach, Kota Kinabalu. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

A relaxed final morning around Prince Philip Park and Tanjung Aru Beach added the trip's closest views of Long-tailed Parakeet, Blue-naped Parrot, Pied Triller and Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, plus a garden full of Nankeen Night Herons, before the group repacked and transferred to Kota Kinabalu airport.

Long-tailed Parakeet perched on a branch, Kota Kinabalu

Long-tailed Parakeet, Kota Kinabalu. Photo Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays.

Daily itinerary

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Full species list

274 bird species and 39 mammal species were recorded on this trip — the full checklists below, with names linking through to their species pages where available. Additional photos for many of these sightings, beyond those shown on this page, are on the group's eBird trip report.

Birds (274)

Mammals (39)

Other wildlife

Following this tour, £200 was transferred to Wise Birding Holidays' central conservation fund, which pools donations from tours to support larger species-conservation projects.

More photos from the trip

A further selection from Chris Townend and Hazwan Subwan's report, Wise Birding Holidays.

Western Hooded Pitta, Kinabatangan River Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Kinabatangan River Whitehead's Trogon, female, Mount Kinabalu National Park Blue-eared Kingfisher, Kinabatangan River Collared Kingfisher, Tabin Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, Sepilok Ruddy Kingfisher, Gomantong Forest Black Hornbill, Tabin Bushy-crested Hornbill, Sepilok Nature Lodge White-crowned Hornbills, Kinabatangan River Rhinoceros Hornbill in flight, Tabin Orange-headed Thrush, Trus Madi bird hide Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo, Tabin Sunda Laughingthrush, Mount Kinabalu National Park Eye-browed Jungle Flycatcher, Mount Kinabalu National Park Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Mount Kinabalu National Park Narcissus Flycatcher, female, Sepilok Grey-hooded (Bi-coloured) Babbler, Trus Madi bird hide Bornean Stubtail, Mount Kinabalu National Park Temminck's Babbler, Trus Madi bird hide Barred Eagle Owl, juvenile, Sepilok Sunda Scops Owl, Sepilok Brown Boobook, Kinabatangan River Buffy Fish Owl, Tabin Sunda Frogmouth, Tabin Oriental Bay Owl, Kinabatangan River Checker-throated Woodpecker, Tabin Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Kota Kinabalu Great Slaty Woodpecker, Tabin Whitehead's Broadbill, male, Mount Kinabalu National Park Green Broadbill, male, Tabin Black-and-Red Broadbill, Kinabatangan River Bornean Bristlehead, Tabin Red-bearded Bee-eater, Sepilok Penan Bulbul, Trus Madi bird hide Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Trus Madi bird hide Blyth's Hawk-Eagle, Mount Kinabalu National Park Wallace's Hawk-Eagle in flight, Gomantong Caves Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Tabin Lesser Fish Eagle, Kinabatangan River Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Kinabatangan River Rufous-bellied Eagle in flight, Gomantong Caves Mountain Hawk-Eagle in flight, Mount Kinabalu National Park Crested Serpent-Eagle, Kinabatangan River Sabah Partridge, Sepilok Red-breasted Partridge, Trus Madi bird hide Crested Partridge, male, Trus Madi bird hide Striped Wren-Babbler, Tabin Black-throated Wren-Babbler, Tabin Bornean Wren-Babbler, Tabin Malay Civet, Tabin Small-toothed (Bornean Striped) Palm Civet, Kinabatangan River Lesser Treeshrew, Trus Madi bird hide Sunda Silvery Langur, Kinabatangan River Tufted (Whitehead's) Pygmy Squirrel, Mount Kinabalu National Park Horse-tailed Squirrel, Sepilok Reticulated Python, Menanggol River Bornean Whistling-Thrush, Mount Kinabalu National Park

All photos by Chris Townend, Wise Birding Holidays, used with permission.

Adapted with permission from Chris Townend and Hazwan Subwan's original report for Wise Birding Holidays.

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