Puntarenas Screech-Owl (undescribed form)

How to find it

Plan to be in the forest before dawn, because that is when birders have found it. Listen for a whistled call rather than a rumbling trill, and do not scan for a shape: the bird located by voice never showed itself. Near Mirador de Osa one was heard a few kilometers east of the cabins and small restaurant there. Around Ciudad Neily, side roads have turned it up, so concentrate on the denser, more humid forest. Treat a heard bird as a success.

How to recognise it

This is one of Costa Rica's screech-owls, a group that includes the Bare-shanked, Tropical, Middle American, Pacific and this one. It was long treated as a subspecies of the Choco Screech-Owl, or of the Middle American (Vermiculated) Screech-Owl.

Its voice differs clearly from both, so voice is the best way to tell it apart.

Habitat is a useful second clue. Around Ciudad Neily it lives in denser, more humid forest, while the Tropical Screech-Owl keeps to second growth and forest edge.

A screech-owl photographed in the Golfo Dulce lowlands of Puntarenas was identified as this form.

Behaviour and diet

Birders who searched for this owl before dawn located one by its call, but it stayed hidden and did not show itself. It called as day broke over the rainforest, so the early hours are when it makes itself known.

One observer found that an owl of this form answered only playback of its own call and ignored recorded calls from Panama. That hints it may be a hidden species of its own.

Where it lives

It lives in southern Costa Rica and also in western Panama. In Costa Rica it has been reported around the Golfo Dulce and a few other sites, including the Golfo Dulce lowlands of Puntarenas, the Osa Peninsula and the side roads around Ciudad Neily.

There it prefers denser, more humid forest. Osa and its surroundings all lie inside Puntarenas Province.

Similar birds

Voice is the best way to separate it from the Choco and Middle American screech-owls, which it was long lumped with. At Ciudad Neily, the Tropical Screech-Owl lives in second growth and forest edge, while this owl prefers denser, more humid forest. The Pacific Screech-Owl is mostly a dry-forest and mangrove bird of the northwest Pacific coast.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The AOCR list calls it Lechucita de Puntarenas. Puntarenas refers to the province, not the city, and Osa and its surroundings are all inside Puntarenas Province, which explains the name for an owl of the south.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican checklist (AOCR) includes it as an undescribed form, Lechucita de Puntarenas, with status R-END: resident and regional endemic.

Photography tips

Photography is a long shot, since the owl stayed hidden even while calling. Be in position before dawn, listen for the whistle, and treat any view as a bonus. One screech-owl from southern Costa Rica was photographed in the Golfo Dulce lowlands and identified as this form.