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Spectacled Owl

Pulsatrix perspicillata

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernVertebratesForestCavity nestLarge · 984 g
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 1
Photo: B. Phalan · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 2
Photo: B. Phalan · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 3
Photo: josebarrientos · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 4
Photo: Guy Babineau · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 5
Photo: Jacek Pietruszewski · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 6
Photo: Jacek Pietruszewski · CC BY 4.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 7
Photo: Leslie · CC0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 8
Photo: John Rowell · CC BY 2.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 9
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhysasplundh/ · CC BY 2.0
Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), photo 10
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0

What the Spectacled Owl sounds like

Sonogram of the Spectacled Owl: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Loja: 'Reserva Jorupe' ca. 4 km E Macará, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spectacled Owl: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Oliver Komar · Song · Darién Province, at Cana Upper Camp in montane rain forest at 1300 masl., Panama · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spectacled Owl: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Cristian Eric Miranda · Call, song · Bosque de Cinquera, El Salvador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The spectacled owl can range from 41 to 52.3 cm (16.1 to 20.6 in) in length. Mass in males can range from 453 to 1,075 g (1.00 to 2.37 lb), whereas females can weigh from 680 to 1,250 g (1.50 to 2.76 lb). 10 males from the nominate subspecies (P. p. perspicillata) were found to average 767 g (1.69 lb) while 8 females averaged 908 g (2.00 lb). It is unmistakable in most of its range (except with other Pulsatrix owls) with blackish brown upperparts, head and upper breast, white facial markings, and whitish to yellowish-ochre underparts.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Spectacled 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 Spectacled Owl

Regular range

The map shades 20 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Costa Rica Colombia Panama Ecuador Peru Brazil Belize Venezuela Honduras Guyana Argentina Bolivia Trinidad & Tobago Mexico Guatemala Suriname Nicaragua French Guiana Paraguay El Salvador

About the Spectacled Owl

The spectacled owl also called a Murucututu, is a large tropical owl native to the neotropics. It is a resident breeder in forests from southern Mexico and Trinidad, through Central America, south to southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina. There are six subspecies. One is occasionally treated as a separate species called the short-browed or brown-spectacled owl but the consensus is that it is still merely a race until more detailed analysis can be done.

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

Easily confused with

Band-bellied Owl (Pulsatrix melanota) Band-bellied OwlPulsatrix melanotaThe band-bellied owl is fairly large, ranging from 44 to 48 cm (17 to 19 in) long. Tawny-browed Owl (Pulsatrix koeniswaldiana) Tawny-browed OwlPulsatrix koeniswaldianaThe tawny-browed owl is about 44 cm (17 in) long.

Side by side: Band-bellied Owl vs Spectacled Owl

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