Mottled Owl (Strix virgata)
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Mottled Owl

Strix virgata (Cassin, 1849)

The mottled owl (Strix virgata) is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina.

Busiest months: January–March · Most records: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize

Where and when it's recorded

Mottled Owl has been recorded at 537 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 21 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Hotel BougainvilleaCosta Rica2,884 records
  2. Curi-Cancha Refugio de Vida SilvestreCosta Rica1,335 records
  3. Santa Margarita Ranch (LTC 079)United States1,120 records
More places
  1. Rancho NaturalistaCosta Rica1,095 records
  2. Finca Rubel ChaimGuatemala739 records
  3. RNP ChajbaocGuatemala615 records
  4. Black Rock LodgeBelize580 records
  5. Rancho PrimaveraMexico528 records
  6. Paraiso Verde LodgeGuatemala511 records
  7. Canopy CampPanama494 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Costa RicaGuatemalaBelizePanamaColombiaMexicoEcuadorBrazil

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The mottled owl (Strix virgata) is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. The head and back are mottled brown and the underparts whitish, with vertical bars on the chest and throat. The eyes are dark and the head is round and they do not have ear tufts.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

Where does the Mottled Owl live?

Its breeding range: Middle America, South America: widespread. It is most often recorded in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Belize.

When is the best time to see the Mottled Owl?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January, February and March (Northern Hemisphere).

What family is the Mottled Owl in?

It belongs to the family Owls (Strigidae), order Strigiformes.

Range

Middle America, South America: widespread

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Family
Owls Strigidae
Genus
Strix

Other birds in the genus Strix

Spotted Wood OwlSpotted Wood OwlStrix seloputoMottled Wood OwlMottled Wood OwlStrix ocellataBrown Wood OwlBrown Wood OwlStrix leptogrammicaTawny OwlTawny OwlStrix alucoMaghreb OwlMaghreb OwlStrix mauritanicaHimalayan OwlHimalayan OwlStrix nivicolumDesert OwlDesert OwlStrix hadoramiOmani OwlOmani OwlStrix butleriSpotted OwlSpotted OwlStrix occidentalisBarred OwlBarred OwlStrix variaCinereous OwlCinereous OwlStrix sartoriiFulvous OwlFulvous OwlStrix fulvescens
Mottled Owl

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by dominic sherony. ↗

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