The Elegant Scops Owl is a small owl resident on the Ryukyu Islands. On Amami-Oshima it uses forests from near sea level to mountain tops and nests in tree hollows.
Males and females look similar. The owl is mostly brown with small black and yellow markings; reddish-brown feathers frame its gray face. Its short ear tufts may be hard to see.
It is territorial and forms pairs. It breeds from spring to summer in tree hollows; on Amami-Oshima it is found in forest from the coast to mountain tops.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.