The Rufous-banded Owl has separate field records from Ecuador and Colombia. An Ecuadorian report describes a pale-down juvenile; a Colombian study suggests foraging in secondary forest and plantations.
In an eastern Ecuador observation, a juvenile had yellow-cream down and roosted beside a bird in adult plumage.
A study at La Sonadora Reserve in Colombia examined prey remains from two adults and a chick and suggested that the birds foraged in secondary forest and tree plantations there. Beetles were frequent, while rodents contributed most prey biomass.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.