Coleonyx mitratus
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The Central American banded gecko (Coleonyx mitratus) is a species of moderately-sized gecko in the genus Coleonyx, native to Central America and first identified by Wilhelm Peters in 1863. It is a member of the eyelid geckos.
Length (including tail) reaches 190mm, with the tail encompassing 50-54% of the total. As indicated by their name, these geckos have brown, black and yellow horizontal bands on their dorsal surfaces. The Central American banded gecko is crepuscular and hides in a burrow in the soil during the day. It emerges at dusk to forage for insects. If threatened, like most geckos, it can lose its tail. Most will regenerate lost tails within a year.
These geckos are found from Guatemala south to Costa Rica. Central American banded geckos are popular as pets. Lizards of Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
No species of the same family or order lives in Carara National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Banded Gecko sighting in Carara National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 29 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Banded Gecko in Carara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May–August, October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Carara National Park's wettest months, with about 590 mm of rain against 35 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Central American Banded Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Central American Banded Gecko sightings, Carara National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Central American Banded Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Carara National Park (7 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.
