Mottled owl
Strix virgata (Cassin, 1849)
Status not recordedowls
The mottled owl (Strix virgata) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 238 g to 336 g.
Quick facts about the mottled owl
- Weight
- 238 g – 336 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 84 cm – 91 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.4 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the mottled owl?
Where does the mottled owl live?
Not recorded
What is the mottled owl?
The mottled owl (Strix virgata) is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. The head and back are mottled brown and the underparts whitish, with vertical bars on the chest and throat. The eyes are dark and the head is round and they do not have ear tufts. They are territorial and found in dry forests and jungles at altitudes of up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level.
From the Wikipedia article “Mottled owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mottled_owl&oldid=1379674001), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the mottled owl endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the mottled owl classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- genusStrix
- SpeciesStrix virgata (Cassin, 1849)
Synonyms Ciccaba virgata, Ciccaba virgata, Ciccaba virgata, Ciccaba virgata, Syrnium virgatum
Other names and names in other languages (41)
- بوم رخاميArabic
- gamarús cafèCatalan
- puštík proměnlivýCzech
- Spættet NatugleDanish
- SprenkelkauzGerman
- marmora strigoEsperanto
- Búho caféSpanish
- Búho tropicalSpanish
- Cárabo caféSpanish
- Lechuza CaféSpanish
- lechuza cáraboSpanish
- Lechuza estriadaSpanish
- välukakkEstonian
- viirumetsäpöllöFinnish
- Chouette mouchetéeFrench
- Kavure guasuGuarani
- prugastoleđa sovaCroatian
- pettyegetett bagolyHungarian
- Allocco maculatoItalian
- Allocco chiazzatoItalian
- Civetta marezzataItalian
- ナンベイヒナフクロウJapanese
- rusvapilvė pelėdaLithuanian
- Bonte BosuilDutch
- demonugleNorwegian
- puszczyk pstryPolish
- mocho-carijóPortuguese
- coruja-de-bigodesPortuguese
- coruja-do-matoPortuguese
- coruja-do-mato-neotropicalPortuguese
- coruja-listadaPortuguese
- Крапчатая неясытьRussian
- Пятнистая циккабаRussian
- sova čiarkováSlovak
- Pirgasta šumska sovaSerbian
- brunstrimmig ugglaSwedish
- Benekli Alaca BaykuşTurkish
- сова-лісовик бураUkrainian
- 斑叫鴞Chinese
- 杂斑林鸮Chinese
- 点斑林鸮Chinese
Relatives of the mottled owl
Other species in the same genus Strix.
Tawny owl
Strix aluco
Ural owl
Strix uralensis
Great grey owl
Strix nebulosa
Brown wood owl
Strix leptogrammica
Barred owl
Strix varia
Omani owl
Strix butleri
CompareMottled owl vs Tawny owlMottled owl vs Ural owlMottled owl vs Great grey owlMottled owl vs Brown wood owl
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the mottled owl?
An adult mottled owl weighs 238 g – 336 g and has a wingspan of 84 cm – 91 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the mottled owl?
The mottled owl (Strix virgata) belongs to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Mottled owl (Strix virgata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mottled-owl
“Mottled owl (Strix virgata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mottled-owl.
@misc{mottled_owl_2026,
title = {Mottled owl (Strix virgata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mottled-owl},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}