Pulsatrix perspicillata
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) 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.
The spectacled owl is found in Mexico, Central America (Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), Trinidad and Tobago, and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina). The spectacled owl is primarily a bird of tropical rainforests, being found mostly in areas where dense, old-growth forest is profuse. However, it may enter secondary habitats, such as forest edges, especially while hunting. On occasion, they have been found in dry forests, treed savanna plains, plantations, and semi-open areas with trees. In areas such as Costa Rica, they may inhabit subtropical... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Owl sighting in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, based on 106 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 355th most-seen of the 505 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Owl in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spectacled Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
21st of 33
Of the 33 parks where we can rate Spectacled Owl sightings, Braulio Carrillo National Park ranks 21st at under 5%. The best odds are in Darién National Park (Panama, about 10%), Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spectacled Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Braulio Carrillo National Park (106 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.
