Cuban Pygmy-Owl

Cuban Pygmy-Owl

Glaucidium siju

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR Endemic
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Havana

In 3 days <5%

7 Verified sightings at Havana
489 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Cuban Pygmy-Owl

The Cuban pygmy owl (Glaucidium siju) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to Cuba. The Cuban pygmy owl is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long. Males weigh 47 to 68 g (1.7 to 2.4 oz) and females 66 to 102 g (2.3 to 3.6 oz). It has two color morphs, gray-brown and rufous; the former is more common. Both morphs have a pale grayish face, whitish to cinnamon "brows" over yellow eyes, and a pair of dark "false eyes" on the nape. The nominate gray-brown morph's crown, sides of the head, and back are grayish brown with white spots; the shoulders have diffuse dark barring. The tail is also grayish brown, with white bars. The throat is brown, the sides of the breast and flanks brown with darker bars, the center of the breast white, and the rest of the underparts off-white with dark brown streaks and spots. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:44

Cuba · 2025

© FREDERIC Lionel · XC995146 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:26

Cuba · 2018

© Mike Boyd · XC453199 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:24

Cuba · 2018

© David Bradley · XC399155 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
~30%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Havana 🇨🇺 Cuba
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Cuban Pygmy-Owl in Havana?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cuban Pygmy-Owl sighting in Havana on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 176th most-seen of the 183 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Cuban Pygmy-Owl in Havana?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cuban Pygmy-Owl in Havana on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Cuban Pygmy-Owl?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cuban Pygmy-Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Cuban Pygmy-Owl?

Only Havana, in our data

Havana is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cuban Pygmy-Owl sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Cuban Pygmy-Owl sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Cuban Pygmy-Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Havana (7 verified sightings), 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.

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