• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Margarobyas lawrencii (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Gymnoglaux. In past, often placed in Otus. Earlier suggestion that this species may be close to Puerto Rican Megascops nudipes considered unacceptable; separated from latter at genus level by very different morphology and vocal patterns. Has been thought possibly related to Athene. Birds from W Cuba and I of Pines sometimes separated as subspecies exsul, but apparently indistinguishable from those in rest of range. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2023. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v8_Dec23.zip.

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'fairly common' (Stotz et al. 1996). This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 12.9% within its mapped range over the past three generations (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is tentatively suspected that this loss of cover may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame.

Trend justification:   .

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Bare-legged Owl Margarobyas lawrencii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/bare-legged-owl-margarobyas-lawrencii on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.