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

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Least Concern
2016	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2013	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2012	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2008	Near Threatened	B1a+b(i,ii,iii,v)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	31,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	yes	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	20000-49999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is thought to number fewer than 50,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019) and the species is here placed in the band 20,000-49,999 mature individuals. In Chiapas (Mexico), the total mean number of the species detected per linear trail was 1.65±0.61 individuals/km in nine localities (P. Enríquez in litt. 2016).

Trend justification: The population trend for this species has not been directly estimated, but the species is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat degradation. The rate of forest loss varies locally and over time; in the highlands of Chiapas (Mexico) forest loss amounted to 2.6% annually between 1975 and 2000 (Cayuela et al. 2006). More recent data across the entire range, however, suggest that forest loss is moderately low, numbering c. 7% over the past ten years (Global Forest Watch 2020). The species is highly forest-dependent and the most severe threat known to the species is habitat loss. Given that the species is also locally prosecuted, the rate of population decline is potentially higher than forest loss. Overall, the rate of population decline is unlikely to exceed 20% over ten years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Guatemala	extant	native	yes
Mexico	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Guatemala	Cuilco
Guatemala	Yalijux

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	1800 - 2500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 1400 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Bearded Screech-owl Megascops barbarus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/bearded-screech-owl-megascops-barbarus 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.