Glaucidium costaricanum
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Costa Rican pygmy owl (Glaucidium costaricanum) is a small "typical owl" in subfamily Surniinae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Initially, the Costa Rican pygmy owl was described as a subspecies of the Andean pygmy owl (G. jardinii); in 2000, the North American Classification Committee (NACC), of what was then the American Ornithologists' Union (now the American Ornithological Society), accepted it as a separate species, with other taxonomic systems following-suit. The Costa Rican pygmy owl is more closely related to the northern pygmy owl complex (G. gnoma sensu lato) than to the Andean. The species is monotypic.
The Costa Rican pygmy owl is around 14.5 to 17 cm (5.7 to 6.7 in) long, with males weighing about 53 to 70 g (1.9 to 2.5 oz), while the larger females weigh as much as 99 g (3.5 oz). Adults have two color morphs; one is mostly brown and the other is rufous. The head and upper body parts are a basal color with lighter, paler spots; the tail is the same color, with four white bands and a white tip. The nape has a pair of blackish spots with pale borders that resemble "eyes" on the back of the head. The breast and belly... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl sighting in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, based on 630 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 87th most-seen of the 252 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–April, August and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, May–July and September–November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl sightings, Los Quetzales National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Volcán Barú National Park (Panama, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Quetzales National Park (630 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.
