[3] The following nine subspecies are accepted by the IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World.

It is overall gray-brown or (less commonly) brown or rufous, but always with a relatively distinctive blackish edge to the face and yellow irides.

The subspecies are distributed thus:[4] The tropical screech owl inhabits a wide variety of landscapes.

The former include worms, scorpions, spiders, and a large variety of insects (such as grasshoppers, moths, cockroaches, cicadas, termites, mantids, crickets, and beetles).

[8][9] Vertebrate prey includes frogs, other amphibians, small reptiles[10] (such as snakes),[8] other birds, bats, and rodents.

Adults defend the nest with "fluffing" displays and aggressive moves that may extend to striking humans with their claws.

The tropical screech owl's primary song is "short, purring trill, followed by two accentuated clear notes".