[3] The ashy-faced owl was formally described in 1852 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup and given the binomial name Strix glaucops.

[7] After the separation the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) long treated it as monotypic but in July 2023 moved two subspecies from the American barn owl (Tyto furcata) into it.

The ashy-faced owl is generally described as having a mix of red and brown coloration, long thin legs, a heart-shaped face, and silver-grey feathers.

[13] The nominate subspecies of the ashy-faced owl is found on the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and on Île de la Tortue of the northwestern Haitian coast.

[7][13] The ashy-faced owl is a year-round resident throughout its range, though on Hispaniola young may disperse quite widely from their natal site.

[7][13] The ashy-faced owl is primarily a nocturnal hunter, though in the absence of competing diurnal predators, some may hunt during the day.

[7][13] A study published in 2010 compared the diets of ashy-faced and American barn owls (Tyto furcata pratincola) in the Dominican Republic.

This has led to competition and implications for resource partitioning and effects on the ecological niche stability of the ashy-faced owl.

[16] No conclusion could be reached as to whether the competition for food caused by the arrival of the American barn owl was detrimental to the native species.

The ashy-faced owl has been shown to exhibit behaviors of using existing nests of other bird species such as the endemic Palmchat (Dulus dominicus).

On Hispaniola the ashy-faced owl makes a "hissing cry, prefaced by a series of higher-pitched ratchety clicks and a c. 2–3 seconds screeching call likened to criiisssssh.

[7][13] The ashy-faced owl serves an ecological role as a nocturnal predator, helping to maintain the population of rodent species.

Through their predatory behaviors, they serve an essential role in maintaining environmental balance in forests and agricultural ecosystems by curbing the small mammal populations.

The "[s]tatus of Lesser Antillean subspecies [is] insufficiently known, but nigrescens appears to be common on Dominica, whereas insularis is rare on St Vincent and Grenada and in Grenadines, and might be vulnerable to habitat destruction and pesticide usage.