A small, diurnal owl of localized forests in central and western India. Its plumage helps distinguish it from similar owls.
It is small and chunky, with few spots on the crown and back, strongly banded wings and tail, and contrasting underparts.
It is active by day and depends on forest. A 2016–2017 survey in northwestern Maharashtra recorded it in hilly, teak-bearing deciduous forest interspersed with farmland; the birds were not found in non-forest farmland or human settlements.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.