Caligo brasiliensis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Caligo brasiliensis, the Brazilian owl, sulanus owl, or almond-eyed owl, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The species can be found in most of South America as various subspecies, including Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Its range extends through Trinidad, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama north to Mexico.
The larvae of the nominate subspecies have been recorded on Euterpe edulis, Musa species, and Hedychium coronarium. The larvae of subspecies sulanus have been recorded on Heliconia, Calathea, and Musa species. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 3 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Owl-Butterfly sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 48th most-seen of the 302 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Owl-Butterfly in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, September–October and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark Owl-Butterfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Dark Owl-Butterfly sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 30%), Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 20%) and Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same genus: Caligo
The closest relatives of the Dark Owl-Butterfly that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (genus Caligo, Owl-Butterflies) are Banded Owl-Butterfly (about 20%), Pale Owl-Butterfly (about 10%) and Fruhstorfer's Owl-Butterfly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark Owl-Butterfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (23 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
