Indonesian Borneo

• Mahakam River

  Information
  Boat trips on the Mahakam River for rare waterbirds including Storm's Stork and White-shouldered Ibis.

• Menyapa Mountains

  InformationSatellite View
  Hill and montane birding in the seldom visited Menyapa hills is not for the unadventurous, but new discoveries undoubtedly await those who try it.

• NP Kayan Mentarang National Park

  InformationSatellite View
  Montane birding near the Sarawak border. Difficult access but maybe the best site for Bornean montane endemics in Kalimantan.

• NP Kutai National Park

  InformationSatellite View
  Vast lowland forest area near Samarinda, with a great range of birds including many of Kalimantan's lowland specialities.

• NP Tanjung Putting National Park

  InformationSatellite View
  Lowland forest in Kalimantan's south. Great for many of the lowland specialities.

• Sunagai Wain Protected Forest

  InformationSatellite View
  Easily accessible lowland forest near Balikpapan, with a great range of species including Bornean Peacock-pheasant and Bornean Ground-cuckoo.

• Nick Brickle

  | info@burung-nusantara.org

  http://burung-nusantara.org

• Number of bird species: 612

  (As at August 2024)

• Number of endemics: 1

  Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata

• Number of endemics: 64 Borneo

  Although only 1 species is endemic to Kalimantan, there are many species found only on the island of Borneo. Numbers differ slightly according to source. The following list covers all sources giving 64 species, most of which are found in Kalimantan:

  Red-breasted Partridge Arborophila hyperythra
  Dulit (Hose's) Partridge Rhizothera dulitensis
  Bulwer's Pheasant Lophura bulweri
  Bornean Crestless Fireback Lophura pyronota
  Sabah Partridge Tropicoperdix graydoni
  Crimson-headed Partridge Haematortyx sanguiniceps
  Bornean Peacock-Pheasant Polyplectron schleiermacheri
  "Bornean Ground-Cuckoo " Carpococcyx radiceus
  Dulit Frogmouth Batrachostomus harterti
  Bornean Frogmouth Batrachostomus mixtus
  Bornean Swiftlet Collocalia dodgei
  Mountain Serpent-Eagle Spilornis kinabaluensis
  Whitehead's Trogon Harpactes whiteheadi
  Bornean Barbet Psilopogon eximius
  Golden-naped Barbet Psilopogon pulcherrimus
  Mountain Barbet Psilopogon monticola
  Brown barbet Caloramphus fuliginosus
  White-fronted Falconet Microhierax latifrons
  Hose's Broadbill Calyptomena hosii
  Whitehead's Broadbill Calyptomena whiteheadi
  Black-crowned Pitta Erythropitta ussheri
  Blue-banded Pitta Erythropitta arquata
  Bornean Banded-Pitta Hydrornis schwaneri
  Blue-headed Pitta Hydrornis baudii
  Bornean Whistler Pachycephala hypoxantha
  Black Oriole Oriolus hosii
  Bornean Bristlehead Pityriasis gymnocephala
  Bornean Black Magpie Platysmurus aterrimus
  Bornean Green-Magpie Cissa jefferyi
  Bornean Treepie Dendrocitta cinerascens
  Friendly Bush Warbler Locustella accentor
  Charlotte's Bulbul Iole charlottae
  Cream-eyed Bulbul Pycnonotus pseudosimplex
  Bornean Bulbul Rubigula montis
  Pale-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus leucops
  Bornean Stubtail Urosphena whiteheadi
  Chestnut-crested Yuhina Staphida everetti
  Pygmy White-eye Heleia squamifrons
  Mountain Black-eye Zosterops emiliae
  Meratus White-eye Zosterops meratusensis
  Bold-striped Tit-Babbler Mixornis bornensis
  Bare-headed Laughingthrush Melanocichla calva
  Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush Pterorhinus treacheri
  "Black-throated Wren-Babbler " Turdinus atrigularis
  Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata
  Mountain Wren-Babbler Gypsophila crassa
  Bornean Wren-Babbler Ptilocichla leucogrammica
  Everett's Thrush Zoothera everetti
  Fruithunter Chlamydochaera jefferyi
  White-crowned Shama Copsychus stricklandii
  Dayak Blue Flycatcher Cyornis montanus
  Meratus Blue Flycatcher Cyornis kadayangensis
  Bornean Blue Flycatcher Cyornis superbus
  Crocker Jungle Flycatcher Cyornis ruficrissa
  Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher Vauriella gularis
  Bornean Shortwing Brachypteryx erythrogyna
  Bornean Whistling-Thrush Myophonus borneensis
  Bornean Forktail Enicurus borneensis
  Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker Prionochilus xanthopygius
  Spectacled Flowerpecker Dicaeum dayakorum
  Black-sided Flowerpecker Dicaeum monticolum
  Whitehead's Spiderhunter Arachnothera juliae
  Bornean Spiderhunter Arachnothera everetti
  Bornean Leafbird Chloropsis kinabaluensis
  Dusky Munia Lonchura fuscans

• A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of Borneo

  (Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei & Kalimantan) | By Wong Tsu Shi | John Beaufoy Books | 4th Edition | 2023 | Paperback | 176 pages, 300 colour photos, 3 colour maps | ISBN: 9781913679446 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds of Borneo

  By Susan Myers | Helm | 2022 | Paperback | 224 pages, colour photos | ISBN: 9781472986900 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds of the Philippines, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sundas and the Moluccas

  By Norman Arlott | William Collins (Harper Collins imprint) | 2018 | Hardback | 416 pages, 179 plates with colour illustrations; colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780008102395 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo

  (Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan) | By Quentin Phillipps & Karen Phillipps | John Beaufoy Books | 2014 | Edition 3 | 372 pages, 141 plates with colour illustrations, 600 colour distribution maps, 12 colour maps | ISBN: 9781909612150 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Pocket Photo Guide to the Birds of Borneo

  (Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan) | By GWH Davison & Chew Yen Fook | Bloomsbury Publishing | 2016 | Paperback | 144 pages, colour photos, 1 colour map | Out of Print | ISBN: 9781472932877 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Birds of Borneo

  By Bertram E Smythies | Edited by Geoffrey WH Davison | Natural History Publications Borneo | 1999 | Edition 4 | Hardback | 853 pages, 57 colour plates, b/w plates, map | ISBN: 9789838120289 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Borneo Bird Club

  Facebook Page
  The Sandakan Borneo Bird Club

• Burung Nusantara

  Website
  Kalimantan is massive, making up by far the biggest proportion of the island of Borneo. It is rarely visited by birders, however, many of whom prefer the easier birding of Sabah and Sarawak. For those interested to give Kalimantan a go you’ll certainly avoid the crowds, and several of the Bornean endemic species are much easier to be found here.

• Kalimantan Birding Club

  Facebook Page
  A group of bird watchers or individuals who are interested in the hobby of researching birds and their habitats in the wild. The work area covers the island of Kalimantan and surrounding islands

Abbreviations Key

• *Protected areas of Kalimantan

  InformationSatellite View
  Interactive list of parks, reserves etc

• NF Wehea Forest

  InformationSatellite View
  Wehea Forest is a 38,000 ha rainforest located in East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan, Borneo. Wehea was declared a 'protected forest' in 2004 by the Wehea Dayak. Biodiversity studies in Wehea by Integrated Conservation and The Nature Conservancy found it is home to endangered species such as the Bornean orangutan, Sunda clouded leopard and sun bear. In 2011, a team of scientists re-discovered the endangered Miller's Grizzled Langur in Wehea Forest.

• NP Betung Kerihun

  InformationSatellite View
  It is located inland, along the Malaysian border. The park was established in 1995, and has a total area of 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) or about 5.5 percent of West Kalimantan Province area. Together with the 2,000 km2 (800 sq mi) Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysia, it has been proposed to form a World Heritage Site named the "Transborder Rainforest Heritage of Borneo" The fauna of the park is rich, with 300 species of bird (25 endemic to Borneo).

• NP Bukit Baka Bukit Raya

  InformationSatellite View
  It is named after the mountains of Bukit Baka (1,620 metres) and Bukit Raya (2,278 metres), part of the Schwaner mountain range at the border of Central and West Kalimantan. The national park forms part of the Heart of Borneo conservation project. Bird species in the park include the black hornbill, helmeted hornbill, common emerald dove, little cuckoo-dove and Bornean peacock-pheasant.

• NP Kayan Mentarang

  InformationSatellite View
  Kayan Mentarang National Park is a densely forested national park in East Kalimantan province, Borneo Island, Indonesia. The national park is named after a great dispersed Mentarang mountain trails plateau of Apau Kayan which covers the entire park from Datadian area in south region to Apau Ping area in mid region until Long Bawan in north region.

• NP Kutai

  InformationSatellite View
  Kutai National Park is a lowland national park located on the east coast of Borneo Island, in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia, few minutes south of the equator.

• NP Lake Sentarum

  InformationSatellite View
  The Danau Sentarum National Park is a national park protecting one of the world's most biodiverse lake systems, located in the heart of Borneo Island, Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan Province. The National Park is located in the western part of this basin, where three-quarters of the seasonal lakes occur. Approximately half of the park consists of lakes, while the other half consists of freshwater swamp forest. There have been 237 bird species recorded including the Storm's stork and great argus. Of the 143 mammal species 23 are endemic to Borneo including the proboscis monkey. There is a relatively large population of the endangered orangutans present in the park.

• NP Mount Palung

  InformationSatellite View
  Mount Palung National Park lies on the island of Borneo, in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, north of Ketapang and east of Sukadana. The park is notable for its diversity of habitat types, ranging from mangrove and freshwater swamp forest, to lowland alluvial (empran bench) forest, to montane forest, and for its diversity of wildlife. It is one of only a handful of parks in the world where orangutans can be seen in the wild.

• NP Sabangau

  InformationSatellite View
  Sabangau National Park (sometimes spelled Sebangau) is a national park in Central Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia in Kalimantan. he national park is centered on Sabangau River, a blackwater river. It flows through the Kelompok Hutan Kahayan or Sabangau peat swamp forest (5,300 km2), between the Katingan and Kahayan rivers. The peat swamp forest is a dual ecosystem, with diverse tropical trees standing on a 10m - 12m layer of peat - partly decayed and waterlogged plant material - which in turn covers relatively infertile soil. Vulnerable bird species include the large green pigeon (Treron capellei) and possibly Storm's stork (Ciconia stormi) and lesser adjutant (Leptoptilus javanicus).

• NP Tanjung Putting

  InformationSatellite View
  The park is composed of 415,040 hectares of dryland dipterocarp forest, peat swampforest, heath forest, mangrove and costal beach forest, and secondary forest…

• NR Baning Nature Tourist Park

  InformationSatellite View
  Baning Nature Tourist Park is a Nature Park located at Sintang Regency of West Kalimantan province of Indonesia in the island of Borneo. It is spread over an area of about 315 hectares. The park is covered by thousands of large trees and rich with various flora and rare fauna.

• eBird

  Sightings
  eBirding This Month

• BirdQuest

  Tour Operator
  JAVA & BALI, INDONESIA – a feast of rare and localized Greater Sunda endemics, with Kalimantan Extension

• Birding in Borneo

  Local Tour Operator
  Highlighted Species : Bornean Peacock Pheasant (Photo courtesy : Mr Agusdin), Bornean Ground Cuckoo, Blue-headed Pitta, Bornean Bristlehead, Malaysian Honeyguide, Large Frogmouth, Grey-breasted Babbler & etc..

• Borneo Birding Tours

  Local Tour Operator
  We can organise tours to Kalimantan, Indonesia Borneo, for the Crestless Fireback and Black-browed Babbler ~ which was missing for more than 170 years and was rediscovered in 2020.

• Borneo Eco Adventure

  Local Tour Operator
  ...There are at least 6 best diversity and accessibility birding sites in this Borneo of Indonesia, they are; Tanjung Puting National Park, Meratus Mountain, Sungai Wain Reserve, Mahakam River, Kutai National Park, and Maratua Island...

• Vacation Indonesia Tours

  Tour Operator
  Vacation Indonesia Tours, owned by Nurlin Djuni & Darwin Sumang, is your gateway to Indonesia. We can immerse you in our culture, heritage and our extraordinarily diverse natural history. The Islands of Indonesia are justly famous for birdwatching. Over 372 species have been recorded and many are found nowhere else. Nurlin Djuni specialises in Birdwatching/Holidays Tours in Sulawesi, Halmahera, Papua, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Lesser Sundas and Sumatera

• 2022 [08 August] - Dáni Balla

  PDF Report
  ...The first day was more of an exploration of the habitat, though we almost hit the jackpot when a Bornean GroundCuckoo was calling and we managed to lure it extremely well, before forest workers appeared and our chances seeing the bird were vanished. Some good species were seen though, Grey-hooded Babblers, Short-tailed Babblers and Rufoustailed Shama were showing well and the forest was full of the loud calls of Great Argus and even a Short-toed Coucal was calling once in the distance. We had a short shower when eating our lunch, fortunately we had shelter and it was perfect timing from the weather. Other species enjoyed during the day were Diard’s and Scarlet-rumped Trogons, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Crimson-winged Woodpecker, Rufous-winged Philentomas and a nice Yellow-bellied Bulbul to name a few...

• 2022 [08 August] - Okamoto Keita Sin

  Report
  Kalimantan: Black-browed Babbler site, Meratus

• 2023 [01 January] - Aidan Place

  PDF Report
  ...A third (somewhat rushed week) would be spent in Kalimantan visiting Gunung Besar and Serongga for the newly available specialty species there. In total 279 species were observed including 52 Bornean endemics...

• 2023 [09 September] - Dáni Balla

  PDF Report
  This year’s tour began with the extension in Kalimantan Borneo. Here we spent all our time birding in Sungai Wain Protection Forest, where a magnificent patch of lowland rainforest was providing us with some Bornean endemics to be added onto our list. Birding was challenging sometimes as the forest looked empty, but with patience we managed to see a selection of Babblers including the Bornean endemic Grey-hooded and Bornean Black-capped as well as Bold-striped Tit-, Short-tailed, Ferruginous, Sooty-capped and Abbot’s. We were very lucky with a Black-throated Babbler pair showing 1 Java, Bali & Kalimantan (borneo) Tour Report 2023 - www.birdquest-tours.com themselves unusually well. Searching canopy living birds resulted in seeing a cooperative Green Broadbill, Banded Broadbills and Bornean Black Magpies. Trogons were very shy in the forest but several attempts to see them finally made us succeed with both Red-naped and Diard’s. One morning we were lucky to find a calling Banded Kingfisher (the Bornean Black-faced race) which soon was showing itself nicely for us. The only feeding flock we connected with was deep inside the forest and had some Babblers, Black-naped Monarch, Hairy-backed Bulbuls and superb Spotted Fantails. Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Shama were commonly heard along the trails but seeing the latter one was way harder than the Flycatcher, but finally a pair came close enough to spot them on a late afternoon. Reaching the furthest point on the trail system rewarded us with a fantastic Garnet Pitta which took some time to lure closer so our local guide could spot it singing on a tree, completely open for us, thus later becoming the bird of the extension.

• Birding in Kalimantan

  Website
  Information about birding sites in Kalimantan, including key species, maps, access, local guides and resources. Kalimantan is massive, making up by far the biggest proportion of the island of Borneo. It is rarely visited by birders, however, many of whom prefer the easier birding of Sabah and Sarawak. For those interested to give Kalimantan a go you