Western Sarawak, from Kuching 24th July-1st August 2011

• We made a one one-week visit to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, Borneo in late July 2011. This was on the back of almost three weeks spent in Sabah and, in contrast to the plethora of trip reports and birding information available for the latter, I could find almost nothing on birding around Kuching....Oscar Campbell reports.

Sabah and South Thailand, July 23rd to August 23rd, 2008

• The aim of this trip was to get as many of the Sabah endemics as possible, and to get three species of Pitta in southern Thailand on the way back, with some of the other Southern Thailand birds...Geoff Dobbs reports

Borneo, Sukau, Danum Valley, Mount Kinabalu September 1 - 8, 2006

• Our trip to Gomantong Caves was nice (be careful on the very slippery boardwalk to the caves), and we saw Short-tailed babbler along the way. The caves themselves are huge. This is where swiftlet nests for birds’ nest soup are collected, by local men on the most precarious setups imaginable....Gary and Marlene Babic report

Mount Kinabalu, Sabah 20-24th of April 2005

• At 1.4 km or right after the second shelter I found my first flock of Mountain Black-eyes. It was a realy worthy bird, as my 1000 species is a 'mountain' in my birding life as well....Peter Ericsson reports. 

Sabah 2004 – Mantanani Island and highlights from elsewhere Sept 2004

• I spent the period between 20th September and 16th October birding in Sabah. Most of this period was spent leading a tour but in the week beforehand I visited Poring Hot Springs and Mantanani Island. It is this latter, seldom-visited site that forms the core of this short report but highlights from elsewhere are also included...Phil Benstead reports.

Gunung Kinabalu. Sabah, Borneo 4th – 10th April 2004

• I spent one week birding Mount Kinabalu National Park. We found it to be an excellent site - yielding most of the montane and pre-montane endemics and specialities. Some reports have indicated that it is hard work and slow. Whilst not over-abundant, specialities were uncovered with regularity and it never felt like hard work....Dominic Hall reports.

Borneo- Sabah May - June 2003

• The aim of our trip was to see as many pittas and endemic birds as possible, a total of 22 endemics was deemed respectable. Also the two hornbills we had missed in Thailand and Western Malaysia and a wild Orang-utan. On the whole the trip was a huge success, we saw 250 species of bird and lots of animals....Stuart White and Mike Clarke report.

Sabah May – June 2002

• Thus report covers a two week birding trip to Sabah. The main sites visited were the Danum Valley Field Centre, the Kinabatangan River around Sukau and Mount Kinabalu National Park. The trip was fairly successful, with highlights including Bornean Bristlehead, 4 species of Pitta, 7 species of Hornbill, Storm's Stork, Pygmy White-eye and Whitehead's Broadbill.....Richard Rae reports.

Sabah March-May 2001

• We spent the period between 22^nd March and 19^th May 2001 birdwatching in Sabah. Sabah holds nearly all of the Bornean endemic birds and has some top quality Asian birding sites such as Kinabalu and Danum Valley. For anyone with an interest in Oriental birding it is a must....Phil and Charlotte Benstead report.

Update on birding Sabah, Malaysia May-June 2001

• The very name Borneo conjures up an image of superb, steamy rain forests, craggy mountains, primitive, forest dwelling tribesmen, Orang Utans, Gibbons, spectacular endemic birds etc. etc. The idea that Borneo is a difficult site to bird couldn't be further from the truth The northern part of the island,  Malaysian Sabah has an excellent tourist infrastructure, efficient transport and comfortable accommodation, incorporating all of the sites you need to visit to have a chance of picking up all but a very few of the specials...David Massie reports

Sabah, East Malaysia 2nd June to 16th June 1996

• Malaysia is currently one of the most accessible countries of South-East Asia and holds a good proportion of the region's avifauna. Sabah is a semi-autonomous region within the federation of Malaysia located in the north-east corner of Borneo and is fast becoming one of the most popular destinations for visiting birdwatchers to South-East Asia....Jan Vermeulen reports.
  

Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo Quentin Phillipps & Karen Phillipps: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk The most up-to-date and user-friendly guide to the birds of Borneo, covering Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. This guide gives descriptions of 669 species living or reported on the island, including 51 endemic species. These are superbly illustrated in 141 color plates with more than 2,000 full color bird images, including most of the sexual variants and immature forms of polymorphic species.

Birds of Borneo: Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan (Princeton Field Guides) Susan Myers: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk For at least a decade, this region has desperately needed a new field guide, and this one does Susan Myers and the region proud....The first full field guide to cover the astonishing, ecologically important island of Borneo. With nearly 1,600 color illustrations covering over 630 species, this is the perfect all-inclusive field guide for birders wishing to visit this birding paradise.

A Photographic guide to the birds of SE Asia Morten Strange: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk This guide covers almost 700 species found in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Borneo. Each species is illustrated with a photograph and distribution map, making this a quick-reference guide in a pocketable format. Many of the photos are new and invariably of good quality.

A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia Craig Robson: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk A new flexi-cover edition of this superb and influential book is now available (UK) making it much more useful as a field guide. The birds of South-East Asia details the identification, voice, breeding, status, habitat and distribution of the 1250 species and distinctive sub-species of the region covering Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, West Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The illustrations are excellent and Craig Robson's text reflects his position as one of the foremost ornithological authorities of S.E.Asia. Indispensable for anyone visiting the area.

Where to watch birds in Asia Wheatley, Nigel: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk This guide to birdwatching in Asia deals with over 250 sites in detail, and more in passing, from Turkey to Thailand and India to Indonesia. It is designed as much for pre-planning birding trips as for use in the country or countries on the itinerary. The countries are dealt with alphabetically and after a general introduction, there are site details, which include a list of birds to be seen, organized under the headings "Endemics", "Specialities" and "Others"; a list of "Other Wildlife" is also included where there is something of particular interest.

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk Though only illustrating 252 species (which is more than we saw!), this helped to clinch the identification of several species where the colours in Lekagul are poor (for Malaysian forms) e.g. Mountain Imperial Pigeon, and the two "chestnut" laughing thrushes...

Recommended travel books for Malaysia:

Lonely Planet: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Chris Rowthorn et al: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk You can shop in Singapore's Orchard Road malls or experience the abundant wildlife of Taman Negara National Park in Peninsula Malaysia. You could check out the water villages of Brunei, one of the worlds smallest but richest counties; discover bat caves and orang-utans in Sarawak; climb Mount Kinabalu in Sabah; or check out the incredible diving waters off Semporna. Importantly, there are several pages for birdwatchers including a very useful over view of the main sites.