This small owl occurs in lowland forest in Sri Lanka. It is active at night and difficult to see while roosting by day.
It is small and short-tailed, with largely uniform rufous plumage. The ear tufts are inconspicuous and the facial disk has a weak border.
The paper records it in lowland rainforest and tall secondary growth. It is nocturnal, roosts close to the ground by day, and hunts after dark.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.