Mottled Owl

What the Mottled Owl sounds like

Recorded by Walter Correa · Song, nocturnal song · Ibagué, Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Capovilla Pablo H · Uncertain · Puerto Iguazú, Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Napo: Napo Galeras, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Mottled Owl

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Mottled Owl

The map shades 20 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States.

About the Mottled Owl

The mottled owl is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. The head and back are mottled brown and the underparts whitish, with vertical bars on the chest and throat. The eyes are dark and the head is round and they do not have ear tufts. They are territorial and found in dry forests and jungles at altitudes of up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Great Grey OwlStrix nebulosaAdults have large, rounded heads with grey faces and yellow eyes with darker circles around them. Black-and-white OwlStrix nigrolineataThe black-and-white owl is a medium-sized owl with a round head and no ear tufts. African Wood OwlStrix woodfordiiThe African wood owl is a medium-sized owl which has the typical rounded head of the genus Strix, similar to the Palearctic tawny owl or Holarctic great grey owl, with large dark eyes outlined by white eyebrows.

Side by side: Barred Owl vs Mottled Owl · Mottled Owl vs Tawny Owl · Mottled Owl vs Ural Owl · Mottled Owl vs Northern Hawk-Owl · Great Grey Owl vs Mottled Owl · Black-and-white Owl vs Mottled Owl · African Wood Owl vs Mottled Owl