A medium-sized round-headed owl with no ear hairs. Females have longer wings and are significantly heavier than males, although there is no gender weight. Pale and dark forms are consistent, but males are also generally darker than females. The upper feathers are tan, with dense fine white stripes on the head, crown and nape, and less prominent white and light brown spots on the shoulder blades. The wings and tail are dark yellow and dark yellow. The throat is white, otherwise the underfeathers are bright cinnamon, and the thick stripes are white and black. The face plate is light ocher to orange-brown with darker concentric lines, the eyebrows and corners of the eyes are white and light brown, and the eyes are dark brown. The brain is light yellow and the beak is waxy yellow. tarsal bones and toes have feathers, and the claws are brown horn-shaped. The dark morph has the entire feathers much darker, with a tawny ground color, merged with thick bars. Young downy chickens are white. The mid-conductor is a warm light brown with vague dark stripes, with a tawny face plate and white spots on the head.
l makes a rapid guttural sound called kokoko-kwowkowkwówk-wowkwow-kwowkwok, which is different from the Chaco owl. Food and Hunting Feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and insects. It hunts primarily from perches. Habitat prefers hillsides with moist forests, ranging from sea level to 2000 meters, possibly higher in places. Produced in central Chile and southwestern Argentina (Patagonia) south to Tierra del Fuego. Occurring on Chiloe Island, immigrants occasionally appear in the Falkland Islands. Geographic variation haplotypes.
The similar species, the Chacoon owl, is much paler, lacks prominent eyebrows, and its gray-white facial disk has more pronounced dark concentric lines.
