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A dark brown spectacled owl with white eyebrows and a buff chest perched on a branch.
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spectacled Owl

Pulsatrix perspicillata

The largest tropical owl of the Americas, a brown owl with white "eyeglasses" around its yellow eyes.

🦉 Owls
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About the Spectacled Owl

Spectacled owls are the largest tropical owls in the Americas, up to 18 inches long and nearly 2 pounds. They are brown above and buff-white below, with white markings around their yellow eyes that look like spectacles. They live in dense tropical forests and woodlands near water from Mexico to northern Argentina, and eat small mammals, insects, birds, reptiles, frogs and crabs.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Pulsatrix perspicillata[1]
Size
Up to 18 inches long.[1]
Weight
Up to 1.9 pounds. Females are larger.[1]
Lifespan
Up to 35 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Carnivore. Small mammals, insects, birds, reptiles, frogs and crustaceans.[1]
Habitat
Dense tropical forests and woodlands near water.[1]
Where it lives
Mexico through Central America to northern Argentina, plus Trinidad and Tobago.[1]
Group life
Pairs that may stay together several years.[1]
Babies
1 or 2 eggs in a tree hole, incubated about 36 days.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • Young spectacled owls are white and look like a different species.[1]
  • Spectacled owls make knocking and tapping sounds.[1]
  • They sometimes catch bats or animals as big as skunks.[1]

Vocabulary

spectacles
An old word for eyeglasses.
nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
owl pellet
A ball of bones, fur and feathers that an owl coughs up because it can't digest them.
plumage
A bird's feathers.
juvenile
A young animal that is not yet an adult.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Spectacled Owl.” https://www.sfzoo.org/spectacled-owl/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Pulsatrix perspicillata (Spectacled Owl).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22689180/130161018 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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