[3] The Balsas screech owl is among the larger members of genus Megascops; it is 24 to 27 cm (9.4 to 10.6 in) long and weighs between 150 and 174 g (5.3 and 6.1 oz).

Its range is centered on the valley of the Balsas River from southern Jalisco southeast into central Guerrero.

Its hunting methods have not been described, but its diet apparently includes insects, other arthropods, and small vertebrates.

Both sexes of the Balsas screech owl perform a territorial song described as "a rather loud series of gruff notes accelerating to a trill ('bouncing-ball' rhythm), book-book-bokbokbobobobrrrrr".

However, its population is unknown and is suspected to be in decline due to habitat loss and degradation.