This nocturnal bird occurs in the Philippine Islands except Palawan. It is found in forest and open areas and has finely patterned brown plumage.
It is patterned in shades of brown, with fine bars on the underparts and mottling on the chest. Dark wings have large pinkish and white spots and a broad pale bar edged in black. White lines mark the sides of the throat, with a black line below, and a broad white band marks the end of the undertail.
It is active at night and uses forest as well as open areas. It occurs from lowlands to mountains and is also recorded in scrub, second growth, and pine forest.
Its territorial song has two parts: an opening short note followed by a series of three to five notes, rendered as took toorrrr or chook choorrr.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.