Cuban Giant Owl

Unfortunately (?) we did not see this bird.
The Giant Owl was 3½ feet in height and existed in the Pleistocene (2.6 mya to 12,000 ya).
It is a great example of the filling of an empty ecological niche (lack of large predators).
See http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2011/06/15/giant-owls-vs-solenodons