Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (B), Venezuela.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2020) and stable.
Tropical Screech Owl (Megascops choliba) [XC414181]
by Diego Cueva from Santa Rita do Novo Destino, Goi\u00e1s, Ch\u00e1cara Jayrson, Brazil (song)
Tropical Screech Owl (Megascops choliba) [XC884359]
by id from Aruan\u00e3 - GO (near Aruan\u00e3), Aruan\u00e3, Goi\u00e1s, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Relationships unclear. Appears to have no close affinities with any other Otus. Has in past included Koepcke's Screech-Owl (Megascops koepckeae) and Peruvian Screech-Owl (Megascops roboratus) as subspecies, but those both clearly distinct in morphology and/or vocalizations. Several additional subspecies described, probably only morphs or result of individual variation: montanus, kelsoi, alticola, caucae, guyanensis and portoricensis included in crucigerus; caatingensis in decussatus; chapadensis in nominate choliba; alilucoco in wetmorei.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
luctisonus (Bangs and Penard, 1921) - Costa Rica to north-western Colombia; Pearl Islands (Panama).
margaritae (Cory, 1915) - Margarita I, off northern Venezuela.
duidae (Chapman, 1929) - Duida Mts in southern Venezuela.
crucigerus (von Spix, 1824) - Eastern Colombia and eastern Peru across to Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas and north-eastern Brazil. Eastern Colombia to Venezuela, the Guianas, eastern Peru and north-eastern Brazil.
surutus L. Kelso, 1941 - Bolivia.
decussatus (Lichtenstein, MHK, 1823) - Central and eastern Brazil.
choliba (Vieillot, 1817) - Southern Brazil (southern Mato Grosso, Sío Paulo) to eastern Paraguay.
wetmorei (Brodkorb, 1937) - Western Paraguay and northern Argentina (south to Mendoza, northern Buenos Aires and northern Río Negro).
uruguaii Hekstra, 1982 - North-eastern Argentina, south-eastern Brazil (Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul) and Uruguay.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet