Aegolius ridgwayi
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The unspotted saw-whet owl (Aegolius ridgwayi) is a small "typical owl" in subfamily Surniinae. It is native to mountainous areas of Central America. The unspotted saw-whet owl's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) treats it as monotypic. The unspotted saw-whet owl and the northern saw-whet owl (A. acadicus) form a superspecies and some authors have proposed that they are a single species.
The unspotted saw-whet owl is 18 to 21.5 cm (7.1 to 8.5 in) long and weighs about 80 to 90 g (2.8 to 3.2 oz). Its upperparts, throat, and upper breast are plain sepia brown and the lower breast and belly plain cinnamon buff. The tail is a darker brown and the wings generally a grayer brown. Its facial disk is brown with a narrow white border; the lores, chin, and "eyebrows" are whitish. It has yellow eyes. The two putative... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Unspotted Saw-whet Owl sighting in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, based on 121 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 134th most-seen of the 252 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Unspotted Saw-whet Owl in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Unspotted Saw-whet 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.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Unspotted Saw-whet Owl sightings, Los Quetzales National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%).
Same family: Strigidae
The closest relatives of the Unspotted Saw-whet Owl that you can see in Los Quetzales National Park (family Strigidae, Typical Owls) are Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl (about 10%) and Bare-shanked Screech-Owl (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Unspotted Saw-whet Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Quetzales National Park (121 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.
