Its upperparts are dark reddish brown with narrow orange-buff bars and spots.

The juvenile is a warm buff with faint dusky brown barring and a tawny face.

[4] The rufous-legged owl is found in Chile from approximately Valparaíso Province and in far western Argentina from approximately Mendoza Province south to the tip of Tierra del Fuego.

The species primarily inhabits moist old-growth forest with a closed canopy and a dense understory.

The rufous-legged owl's vocalizations are "a variety of grunting, hooting, and cackling noises.

[1] It occurs in several protected areas but outside them is potentially threatened by logging of its mature-forest habitat.