Middle American Screech-Owl

How to find it

Plan a night walk with a guide, since screech-owls are usually only heard after dark. La Selva and Veragua, both Caribbean slope sites that visitors can reach, have produced red and brown birds on night outings. Listen first for the fast toad-like trill or the scratchy hiss before trying to spot the bird. If a guide knows a day roost, a morning visit is worth a try, but the owl may have moved into denser growth. Because it is harder to see than other Costa Rican screech-owls, hearing it is a good result.

How to recognise it

This is a small, finely marked owl of lowland and lower mountain forest. Screech-owls in this genus are around 24 cm and hide by day.

The name Vermiculated refers to fine wavy line markings on the plumage.

It comes in two colour forms, brown and rufous (reddish). Both have been photographed in Costa Rica, so colour alone settles little.

Unlike most owls in its genus, it has feathered feet, a detail worth noticing if you get a good look.

Four similar screech-owls occur in Costa Rica, so plumage is only one part of the identification. Range and voice carry as much weight.

What it sounds like

Recording: rawcomposition, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This owl stays hidden during the day and is usually only heard at night. Guides at La Selva have known a day roost for it, and birders have gone back to that spot the next morning. The owl can shift into denser vegetation away from the trail, so a known roost is not a sure thing. One group heard it on a night walk, returned to the roost the next morning, and found the bird had moved into thicker growth and was not seen.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this owl is mainly on the Caribbean side. Its range runs from far southern Nicaragua through the Caribbean slope into western Panama. The Costa Rican form lives in humid forest from sea level up to about 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

It is most common in lowland rainforest. Small populations also live in moist forest on the Nicoya Peninsula and near Monteverde.

Similar birds

Four look-alike screech-owls occur in Costa Rica, and they look very much alike. A Costa Rican paper recommends combining range, looks and voice to separate them. Pacific Screech-Owl replaces this species along the Pacific coast, mostly in Guanacaste. Bare-shanked Screech-Owl lives in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. Around the Golfo Dulce, the Choco Screech-Owl, likely an undescribed species, is a different bird to look for.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish names listed are Lechucita Vermiculada and Lechucita de Guatemala. Costa Ricans often call screech-owls in general sorococa and estucurú, nicknames used for all four Megascops species there. In Mexico the species is called Tecolote Sapo, toad owl, a name that fits the toad-like trill but is not a Costa Rican one.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), though taxonomy is unsettled: some authorities treat the Costa Rican birds as a separate species, Vermiculated Screech-Owl, while AOS and IOC treat them as a subspecies.

Photography tips

Photographers and researchers have found both red and brown birds on night outings at Veragua and La Selva. A known day roost at La Selva is a lead, but the owl can slip into thicker growth away from the trail.