Strix chacoensis
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Chaco owl (Strix chacoensis) is an owl found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The Chaco owl was originally described as a species, then quickly reclassified as a subspecies of rufous-legged owl (Strix rufipes). A 1995 paper provided strong morphological and vocal evidence that the original treatment as a species in its own right was correct. Later work showed that it is probably more closely related to the rusty-barred owl (S. hylophila) than to the rufous-legged. It is monotypic.
The Chaco owl is 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) long. Males weigh 360 to 435 g (12.7 to 15.3 oz) and females 420 to 500 g (15 to 18 oz). It has a round head with no ear tufts. Adults have a pale grayish white facial disk with concentric dark lines. Their upperparts are dusky brownish black with narrow white and yellowish buff barring. Their underparts are off-white with dark brown barring. The tail is dark grayish brown with narrow pale bars.
The Chaco owl is found in southern South America, from Bolivia's Santa Cruz Department south through western Paraguay into north-central Argentina as far as Córdoba and Buenos Aires provinces... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | African Lion Safari | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | La Plata Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Small Breeds Farm Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Gauntlet Birds of Prey | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Vogelpark Abensberg | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chaco Owl sighting in El Impenetrable National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 160th most-seen of the 219 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.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Chaco Owl in El Impenetrable National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, June, August and November, the lowest months. December has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chaco Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only El Impenetrable National Park, in our data
El Impenetrable National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Chaco Owl sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Strigidae
The closest relatives of the Chaco Owl that you can see in El Impenetrable National Park (family Strigidae, Typical Owls) are Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (about 20%), Tropical Screech-Owl (about 20%) and Great Horned Owl (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chaco Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in El Impenetrable National Park (22 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.
