Diet

• Primarily small mammals, including mice, rats, shrews, and bats.

• Also feeds on birds, frogs, lizards, snakes, large insects, spiders, and occasionally crabs.

• Hunts almost exclusively at night, silently flying through the forest or waiting on a perch before swooping on prey.

Range

• Found from western Mexico through Central America, the Caribbean, and much of South America to northern Argentina.

• In Mexico, it occurs along both the Pacific and Gulf slopes, including the Zihuatanejo region, where it is a year-round resident.

• Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical evergreen forests, gallery forests, mangroves, woodland edges, second-growth forests, and shaded plantations, generally from sea level to about 2,500 m.

• More often heard than seen, especially after dusk.

Male / Female

• Male: Mottled gray-brown plumage with fine barring and streaking, dark brown eyes, rounded head without ear tufts, and a pale facial disc bordered in dark brown. Slightly smaller than the female.

• Female: Nearly identical in plumage but generally larger and heavier.

• Juveniles: Fluffier and paler, gradually developing the intricate barred adult plumage.

• Sexes cannot be reliably distinguished in the field except by subtle size differences.

Size

• Length: 38–43 cm (15–17 in)

• Wingspan: 85–100 cm (33–39 in)

• Weight: 430–700 g (15–25 oz)