CreatureData

Spectacled owl

Pulsatrix perspicillata (Latham, 1790)

LCLeast Concernowls

The spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 767 g to 983.5 g and live up to 25 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata)
Photo: Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the spectacled owl

Weight
767 g – 983.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
25 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
36 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the spectacled owl live?

Not recorded

What is the spectacled owl?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) also called a Murucututu, is a large tropical owl native to the neotropics. It is a resident breeder in forests from southern Mexico and Trinidad, through Central America, south to southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina. There are six subspecies. One is occasionally treated as a separate species called the short-browed or brown-spectacled owl but the consensus is that it is still merely a race until more detailed analysis can be done.

From the Wikipedia article “Spectacled owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spectacled_owl&oldid=1379920026), 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.

What does the spectacled owl sound like?

Niels Krabbe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the spectacled owl endangered?

The spectacled owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the spectacled owl classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusPulsatrix
  7. SpeciesPulsatrix perspicillata (Latham, 1790)

Synonyms Strix perspicillata, Syrnium perspicillatum

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • بوم ذوالنظارةArabic
  • gamarús d'ulleresCatalan
  • puštík brýlatýCzech
  • tylluan sbectologWelsh
  • BrilleugleDanish
  • BrillenkauzGerman
  • okulvitra strigoEsperanto
  • Búho de anteojosSpanish
  • Lechuzón de anteojosSpanish
  • Lechuzón mocho grandeSpanish
  • OropopoSpanish
  • suur-prillkakkEstonian
  • kultapöllöFinnish
  • Chouette à lunettesFrench
  • Pulsatrice à lunettesFrench
  • sova naočarkaCroatian
  • pápaszemes bagolyHungarian
  • Gufo dagli occhialiItalian
  • メガネフクロウJapanese
  • akiniuotoji neotropinė pelėdaLithuanian
  • BriluilDutch
  • puchaczyk żółtobrzuchyPolish
  • murucututuPortuguese
  • coruja-d'óculosPortuguese
  • Murucututu-cara-brancaPortuguese
  • murucututu-de-garganta-pretaPortuguese
  • Очковая неясытьRussian
  • Очковая неотропическая соваRussian
  • sova okuliarnatáSlovak
  • Naočarasta sovaSerbian
  • glasögonugglaSwedish
  • Gözlüklü BaykuşTurkish
  • сова вохристочереваUkrainian
  • 眼鏡鴞Chinese
  • 眼镜鸮Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the spectacled owl

Other species in the same genus Pulsatrix.

CompareSpectacled owl vs Band-bellied owlSpectacled owl vs Tawny-browed owlSpectacled owl vs Pulsatrix arredondoi

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the spectacled owl?

An adult spectacled owl weighs 767 g – 983.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the spectacled owl endangered?

The spectacled owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the spectacled owl live?

The spectacled owl has a recorded lifespan of 25 years.

What kind of animal is the spectacled owl?

The spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spectacled-owl

MLA

“Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spectacled-owl.

BibTeX
@misc{spectacled_owl_2026,
  title = {Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spectacled-owl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}