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 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 137 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 311th most-seen of the 467 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 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte 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, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%) and Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Unspotted Saw-whet Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (137 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.
