This small owl inhabits moist lowland forest in western and central Africa. It hunts at night in the forest understory, taking mainly insects along with small vertebrates and other prey.
It is about 20–25 cm long. The brown head has white bars, most of the back is deep chestnut, and the cinnamon underparts are barred with brown. Adult sexes look similar.
It hunts at night in the forest understory. Its diet is mainly insects such as grasshoppers and dung beetles, but the account also lists mice, spiders, crabs, small snakes, and nestling birds.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.