Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (B), USA (B), Venezuela.
Population
Estimated population is 20,000,000 (2010).
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) [XC391504]
by Richard E. Webster from Palo Injerto, Reserva Monte Mojino, \u00c1lamos, Sonora, Argentina (call)
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) [XC241792]
by John V. Moore from Los Llanos, Apure, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Considered by some authors to form superspecies with Tucuman Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium tucumanum), Peruvian Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium peruanum) and Austral Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium nana). Has been considered to include those as subspecies, but recent studies have shown all to be vocally distinct and to differ in DNA. In past treated as conspecific with Andean Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium jardinii), but again differs in vocalizations and DNA. Northern populations (cactorum, ridgwayi, saturatum) recently proposed as forming separate species (Ridgway's Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi)) but further study is needed. Subspecies pallens perhaps better placed in Tucuman Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium tucumanum).
The following 14 subspecies are recognised:
cactorum van Rossem, 1937 - Southern Arizona south to south-western Mexico.
saturatum Brodkorb, 1941 - Southern Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala.
ridgwayi Sharpe, 1875 - Southern Texas through eastern and southern Mexico to Panama. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Ridgway's Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi).
medianum Todd, 1916 - Northern Colombia.
margaritae Phelps & Phelps Jr, 1951 - Margarita I (Venezuela).
phaloenoides (Daudin, 1800) - Northern and eastern Venezuela, Trinidad and the Guianas.
tucumanum Chapman, 1922 - Subtropical western Argentina (Salta and Tucumán to Córdoba). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Tucuman Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium tucumanum).