A small rufescent scops-owl with a short tail.  No noticeable ear tufts.  Not so distinct facial disk.  Upperparts are almost completely rufous brown with dark markings.  Under parts are paler rufous with dark triangular spots.  Irides are yellowish in the female and orangish in the male.  This newly described owl has so far been located only in the lowland rain forests of the south-west part of the island.