Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela.
Population
Estimated population is 50,000 - 499,999 (2010).
Crested Owl (Lophostrix cristata) [XC536240]
by Iv\u00e1n Lau from Manaus. INPA tower on ZF-2, Brazil (call)
Crested Owl (Lophostrix cristata) [XC272096]
by Peter Boesman from Mozeskreek area, W Suriname, Suriname (song)
Subspecies
Subspecies stricklandi may possibly be specifically distinct.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
stricklandi Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1859 - Southern Mexico to western Panama and western Colombia.
wedeli Griscom, 1932 - Eastern Panama to north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela; possibly also northern Venezuela (1 specimen from Aragua).
cristata (Daudin, 1800) - Southern Venezuela and the Guianas to northern Brazil (western Pará), south through Amazonia to northern Bolivia and northern Mato Grosso, then west to south-western Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru.