Margarobyas lawrencii
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The bare-legged owl (Margarobyas lawrencii), also called the Cuban bare-legged owl or Cuban screech owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. It belongs to the monotypic genus Margarobyas.
The bare-legged owl was described in 1800 and for a time, it was considered the same species as the Puerto Rican owl. However, it was later determined to be its own species by George Newbold Lawrence in 1868. It has variously been placed in the genera "Noctua", Gymnoglaux, and Gymnasio. The American Ornithological Society moved it to the genus Otus in 1998. However, in 2003, they moved the bird back to the genus Gymnoglaux based on physical and vocal differences between the bare-legged owl and typical screech-owls. Finally, in 2008, the genus Margarobyas was proposed, as it was found that Gymnoglaux was a junior synonym of Gymnasio. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bare-legged Owl sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, based on 106 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 114th most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March, May–July, October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bare-legged Owl in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, against under 5% in January, April, August and November, the lowest months. September has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bare-legged 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.
Only Ciénaga de Zapata, in our data
Ciénaga de Zapata is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Bare-legged Owl sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bare-legged Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Ciénaga de Zapata (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.
