LC
Bare-legged Owl Margarobyas lawrencii



Taxonomy

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2024 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency medium
Land-mass type Average mass 95 g
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 223,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - suspected -
Generation length 4.29 years - - -

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:   .


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Cuba extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Cuba Alejandro de Humboldt
Cuba Alturas de Banao
Cuba Cayo Sabinal, Ballenatos y Manglares de la Bahía de Nuevitas
Cuba Cayos Romano - Cruz - Megano Grande
Cuba Cienaga de Lanier y Sur de la Isla de la Juventud
Cuba Ciénaga de Zapata
Cuba Delta del Cauto
Cuba Delta del Mayarí
Cuba Desembarco del Granma
Cuba Gibara
Cuba Gran Piedra - Pico Mogote
Cuba Guanahacabibes
Cuba Hatibonico - Baitiquirí - Imías
Cuba La Mensura
Cuba Limones - Tuabaquey
Cuba Mil Cumbres
Cuba Pico Cristal
Cuba Río Máximo
Cuba Sierra del Chorrillo
Cuba Sierra del Rosario
Cuba Topes de Collantes
Cuba Turquino - Bayamesa

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Plantations suitable resident
Artificial/Terrestrial Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest suitable resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland major resident
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable resident
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Moist suitable resident
Altitude 0 - 860 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

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 05/12/2024.
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 05/12/2024.