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WINGS Birding Tours – Itinerary

Peninsular Malaysia

Friday 23 May to Thursday 5 June 2025
with Susan Myers as leader

Price Pending

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Mountain Peacock-Pheasant is one of the prizes on the tour Photo: Susan Myers

About 720 bird species have been recorded in peninsular Malaysia, and a large proportion of these are resident, many unique to the area’s lush tropical rainforest. Our short tour revolves around three nights in the cool highlands at Fraser’s Hill, where the first migrants from the north augment the local avifauna, and five nights in the superb Sundaic lowland forest of magnificent Taman Negara, Malaysia’s largest national park. We’ll be targeting some very special birds, including Malayan Peacock-Pheasant, Great Argus, Malaysian Rail-babbler, Giant Pitta, Bamboo Woodpecker, and Ferruginous Partridge. This wonderful country remains one of the birdiest in Southeast Asia thanks to a system of excellent, well-protected nature reserves, its multicultural population, modern infrastructure, great food, and small towns with old-world charm help make Malaysia a comfortable and memorable birding adventure. 

This tour can be taken separately or in combination with our tour of Borneo, the world’s third-largest island.

Day 1: Our tour begins this evening in Kuala Lumpur with a get-together dinner. Night in Kuala Lumpur.

Day 2: We’ll spend the morning birdwatching on the Old Gombak Road, where barbets, woodpeckers, spiderhunters, flowerpeckers, and sunbirds abound. This area provides a great introduction to Malaysian birds, and the list of even the common birds is tantalizing – Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Emerald Dove, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Indian Cuckoo, Drongo Cuckoo, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Whiskered Treeswift, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Scarlet Minivet, Great Green Leafbird, Green Iora, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Thick-billed Pigeon, Little Cuckoo-Dove, Blue-eared Barbet, Banded Woodpecker and Banded Broadbill are all possible. It’s also a great place to look for the elusive Scaly-breasted Bulbul and maybe even Collared Babbler. After lunch, we’ll drive to the northwestern coastal town of Kuala Selangor. Night in Kuala Selangor.

Day 3: This morning we’ll visit the mangroves at Kuala Selangor, home to a number of special birds we are unlikely to encounter elsewhere on the tour, including Black Baza, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Mangrove Pitta (increasingly rare), Mangrove Whistler and Mangrove Blue-Flycatcher. In the afternoon we’ll drive to Fraser’s Hill. Night at Fraser’s Hill.

Days 4-5: Fraser’s Hill is a wonderful montane region, cool by comparison to Kuala Lumpur. There are plenty of exciting birds to look for in this wonderful birding area, including the spectacular and unlikely looking Fire-tufted Barbet, Black-and-crimson Oriole and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush. We’ll also look for Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle, Malaysian Hill Partridge, Long-billed Partridge (rare), Yellow-vented Pigeon, Wedge-tailed Pigeon, Oriental Cuckoo, Brown Wood-Owl, Collared Owlet, Malaysian Eared Nightjar, Brown Needletail, Orange-breasted Trogon, and Red-bearded Bee-eater. Bushy-crested, Wreathed and Great Hornbills may be spotted, as well as Silver-breasted Broadbill and Rusty-naped Pitta (rare). We’ll also be on the lookout for Marbled (rare), Streaked and Eye-browed Wren-Babblers, Himalayan Cutia, the distinctive local subspecies of Lesser Shortwing, White-tailed Robin and the endemic Malaysian Whistling-Thrush. Nights at Fraser’s Hill.

Day 6: We’ll depart Fraser’s Hill this morning, birding along the Gap Road as we go. We should find Rufous-bellied Swallow, and we’ll also check the bamboo forests we pass for the elusive Bamboo Woodpecker. This bamboo specialist is scarce throughout its range, but this area is easily the best place to look for it.

After a stop for lunch at the town of Raub, we’ll drive east to Jerantut and Kuala Tembeling and then continue by car for about two hours following the course of the Tembeling River to the headquarters of Taman Negara at Kuala Tahan. We should arrive at our destination in the midafternoon for our first birding session in this bird-rich area. Night in Taman Negara.

Days 7-10: Taman Negara, located in the center of Peninsular Malaysia, covers 1,677 square miles of pristine forest and contains virtually all the bird species found in inland Malaysia. We’ll spend four days birding the numerous trails leading from our comfortable lodge into the surrounding lowland rainforest. Birds we hope to see include Crested Fireback; Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot; three species of malkoha; two species of treeswift; Red-naped, Diard’s and Scarlet-rumped Trogons; Red-bearded Bee-eater; Black and Rhinoceros Hornbills; Brown Barbet; a dozen woodpeckers, possibly including White-bellied and Great Slaty; Black-and-yellow, Black-and-red and Green Broadbills; up to 15 bulbuls; Sultan Tit and many more. We’ll also hope to track down rare and elusive species such as Crested Jay, Gould’s Frogmouth, Garnet Pitta, Blue-banded Kingfisher, and Helmeted Hornbill, and we’ll have an opportunity to look for the Rail-Babbler an intriguing, elusive and enigmatic bird that ticks all the boxes! We’ll also take one or two boat trips – as we cruise in our open longboat, we should encounter riparian species such as Straw-headed Bulbul, Malaysian Blue Flycatcher, and possibly raptors and hornbills as they cross the river or move along the riverbanks. Birds aside, an added attraction is the opportunity to see a tremendous variety of rainforest plants and other animals during our walks. Nights in Taman Negara.

Day 11: Taking our leave of Taman Negara, we’ll make our way to Bukit Tinggi and, after checking in to our accommodation, we’ll head out to commence our birding at this mid-altitude site. We may encounter some similar birds here as we’ve seen on Fraser’s Hill, which will give us a chance to catch up on any species we may have missed there. There is also a good possibility of close sightings of the remarkable Siamang, the world’s largest gibbon. This area is also great for some scarcer species such as Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle, Grey-and-buff Woodpecker, and Scaly-breasted and Grey-bellied Bulbuls. Night near Bukit Tinggi.

Day 12: This morning we’ll bird at Bukit Tinggi, where we’ll head for a Mountain Peacock-Pheasant stakeout, a short walk up a forest track and out into an opening, where a blind has been set up. This location is likely the easiest place on earth to see this vulnerable endemic. With luck, we may also encounter the striking Ferruginous Partridge. These hard-to-find birds are now listed as near threatened on the red list due to ongoing habitat loss, and their populations are certainly declining, as with so many other ground-dwelling birds in the region. In the afternoon we’ll go up to the Cameron Highlands to bird at the highest point on the mountain along a quiet road where we will find some similar species to those seen at Fraser’s Hill, but also some scarcer species in Malaysia such as Bar-throated Minla, Golden-throated Barbet, Rufous-vented Niltava or Himalayan Cutia. Night near Bukit Tinggi.

Day 13: On our second day in the area, we may go to back to the hide again or make a return trip to the highlands, depending on what we’re still looking for. There are still plenty of great birds to look for in this area! Later in the day, we’ll head back to Kuala Lumpur in preparation for our flights tomorrow. Night in Kuala Lumpur.

Day 14: After breakfast, we’ll depart for Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where the tour concludes.

Updated: 14 August 2023

Notes

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Questions? Tour Manager: Greg Greene. Call 1-866-547-9868 (US or Canada) or (01) 520-320-9868 or click here to email.

* Tour invoices paid by check carry a 4% discount. Details here.

Group size limited to eight participants with one leader.

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