Coleonyx mitratus
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Central American banded gecko (Coleonyx mitratus) is a species of moderately-sized gecko in the genus Coleonyx, native to Central America and first identified by Wilhelm Peters in 1863. It is a member of the eyelid geckos.
Length (including tail) reaches 190mm, with the tail encompassing 50-54% of the total. As indicated by their name, these geckos have brown, black and yellow horizontal bands on their dorsal surfaces. The Central American banded gecko is crepuscular and hides in a burrow in the soil during the day. It emerges at dusk to forage for insects. If threatened, like most geckos, it can lose its tail. Most will regenerate lost tails within a year.
These geckos are found from Guatemala south to Costa Rica. Central American banded geckos are popular as pets. Lizards of Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
No species of the same family or order lives in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Banded Gecko sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 43 reptiles 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 and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Banded Gecko in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in April, August–October and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Central American Banded Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Central American Banded Gecko sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%) and Carara National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Central American Banded Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (8 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.
