This owl from Camiguin was described as a distinct species within the Philippine Hawk Owl complex. Its account highlights a white throat patch, pale eyes, and low-pitched duets.
The 2012 description used two female specimens and photographs of at least three living birds. It describes broad dark brown and buff bars on the head and underparts and a large white throat patch. The patch is usually mostly hidden but appears broadly in song display; the irises were gray to whitish.
The species account reports rapid, low-pitched duets in which two birds face and lean toward one another at close range, puffing the white throat and lowering their wings. The female holotype was collected at the edge of second growth on Camiguin Sur.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.