This small owl lives in humid montane forest on the eastern Andes. Its cinnamon-colored plumage has fine markings, and BirdLife describes it as highly dependent on forest.
The plumage is warm cinnamon overall, with fine wavy markings on the back and breast. It has medium-length ear tufts and a pale collar.
It inhabits humid montane forest at roughly 1,180–2,870 m and has a high dependence on forest habitat.
The iris is dark.
The facial discs generally have black or dusky fringes.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.