Great Horned Owl

How to find it

Start with the places where it has been reported: farmland and pasture with hedges and living fence rows in the Central Valley. Recent sightings come from near Ochomogo above Cartago and from near Alajuela. It is nocturnal, so any search belongs at night, and listening for muffled, trembling hoots is a sensible way to begin. No dependable site is named for it, so treat any sighting as a bonus. Rule out the commoner owls first, since the Striped Owl is far more likely to be seen in open country.

How to recognise it

This is a very large, powerful owl with obvious ear tufts. The underparts are barred and the legs are fully feathered. It is about 53 cm long and weighs about 1 kg.

The face is dull cinnamon with a black rim. It has a white chin and a white band across the front of the throat. The iris is yellow and the bill is blackish.

Costa Rican birds are small for the species. They average about 1,000 g, the lightest average reported anywhere for this owl. Only the Great Horned has a large size together with obvious ear tufts and fully feathered legs.

What it sounds like

Recording: Juli Mallett, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This owl is nocturnal, so any encounter is likely to come after dark. Across its range rabbits, hares, rats, mice and voles make up most of its diet, and it also takes small mammals, reptiles and even fish. It nests in tree cavities and lays 2 to 3 eggs. Those habits describe the species in general. In Costa Rica the national bird guide states that there are no nesting data for the species, so how and where it breeds here is poorly known.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in savanna with patches of trees, coffee farms, and pastures with scattered dense hedges and living fence rows. It is reported mostly from the Central Valley. There is also one record from near Tabaga, Cañas, in Guanacaste. One range description puts the species' limit in the northwest, reaching only the westernmost part of Costa Rica.

When to see it

One Costa Rican tour company calls it a rare winter vagrant, while other sources call it a very rare resident, so the timing is unclear. No season is confirmed for seeing it.

Similar birds

The Spectacled Owl is the Costa Rican owl most often compared in size, but it has a round head with no ear tufts and white markings around the face. The Striped Owl also has long ear tufts, but it has striped plumage, lives in open grassy country and often perches on roadside wires at night. It is much more likely to be seen than the Great Horned Owl. Stygian and Short-eared Owls are other possible confusions.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Búho Grande. The Costa Rican site Aves de Costa Rica also lists it as Lechuza. Elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world it goes by búho cornudo, búho real, Ñacurutú in the south and Estiquirín in Honduras.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it R?, a resident of uncertain status, and it is described as very rare in Costa Rica.