The specific epithet was chosen in honour of the Russian-born mineralogist and ornithologist Alexandre Prigogine who had first brought the owl to Schouteden's attention.

[7] It is smaller than typical barn owls and has a more U-shaped facial disk; its earlike feather tufts are hardly visible.

[7][8] The type specimen was collected at Muusi, at an altitude of 2,430m, in the Itombwe Mountains in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1951.

Both of the specimens captured were taken in similar habitat of montane forest interspersed with areas of grassland and stands of bamboo.

[9] The Itombwe Nature Reserve was established, but enforcement has been lacking, as the expected development in infrastructure, tourism, and jobs did not materialize.