Spectacled Owl

How to find it

In Guanacaste's dry season, look for them hiding in the shade of papaturro trees during the day. They also drink at dry season waterholes. Elsewhere, one owl guide says it often roosts near rivers and streams in the lowland forests of both coasts. By day it often roosts low to mid-level in shady spots, usually well hidden, and it flushes easily, so approach slowly and keep your distance. Guided night walks are a good way to see one, since they are readily located by their calls. Guides have filmed Spectacled Owls near Guápiles, in the Caribbean lowlands.

How to recognise it

This is a big owl, about 19 inches tall, and the largest owl in Costa Rica.

- Head: dark brown, with white lines around big yellow eyes that look like spectacles.

- Wings: dark brown.

- Belly: creamy tan. Northern birds usually show clear barring on the pale belly feathers when mature.

- Bill: pale.

- Eyes: yellow, which sets it apart from the other owls in its genus, Pulsatrix.

Young chicks look completely different. They are bright white balls of down, and their plumage darkens to brown or black with age, so a very pale young bird looks quite unlike the adult.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

By day it usually sits motionless on a branch, then becomes active at night. It hunts mostly after dark, scanning from a bare mid-height branch and leaning forward, then diving on prey or swooping to snatch it from foliage.

It takes large prey, including skunks, opossums and even smaller owls. In a Costa Rican study that played owl recordings, Spectacled Owls were the least responsive and did not call back to other owl species or to their own species' calls.

Eggs are laid in the dry season (November to May) or early in the wet season (June to July). The nest is usually in an unlined tree cavity.

When to see it

One biologist sees them most often in Guanacaste's dry season, in leafy trees along dry streambeds. Juveniles have been seen in Costa Rica in September.

Similar birds

By sight the Spectacled Owl is otherwise unmistakable, and it is unlikely to be confused with any other Central American owl. A call alone can mislead, though. An uncommon variant call of the Mottled Owl sounds much like the Spectacled Owl's pulsing series of deep hoots. A very pale young bird also looks quite different from the adult.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans commonly call this owl Oropopo. One Costa Rica writer says ordinary people use it more than Búho de Anteojos, and he finds it more fun to say. Búho de Anteojos is also used in Mexico and Colombia, while other Spanish names include lechuzón de anteojos in Venezuela and lechuzón mocho grande in Argentina and Paraguay.

Status and conservation

It is a widespread resident on both slopes (R on the AOCR list), uncommon to fairly common, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN.

Photography tips

By day it roosts alone in trees with dense foliage, often low to mid-level in shady spots and usually well hidden. It flushes easily, so approach slowly and keep your distance. It is most vocal on calm, moonlit nights, which helps a guide to locate one for a night walk.