Grallistrix can be loosely translated as "owl on stilts".

The genus received this name due to the long legs and terrestrial habits which they evolved in the absence of mammalian predators on their island homes.

They fed on smaller birds such as Hawaiian honeycreepers.

They were also able to fly, but likely did most of their hunting on the ground, filling the niches occupied by medium-sized predatory mammals elsewhere.

The owls were never seen alive by scientists and are known only from subfossil bones.