EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of montane forest on Mindanao.

Breeding is presumed to occur around Feb to March as specimens with enlarged gonads were taken during this time.

As it occurs in rugged and inaccessible mountains, this has allowed a large portion of its habitat to remain intact relative to lowland forest.

However, there it is still affected by habitat loss through deforestation, mining, land conversion and slash-and-burn - just not to the same extent as lowland forest.

It is found in multiple protected areas such as Mount Apo, Kitanglad Mountain Range, Mt.