[5][6] The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) uses the name "Yungas screech owl" but notes that the English name is "unsettled".

It has a gray-brown facial disc, white brows over bright yellow eyes, and small "ear" tufts.

Its underparts are light gray to gray-brown with an ochre wash; the breast and flanks have prominent black streaks.

Though the species is mostly sedentary, birds nesting in the higher elevations are thought to move lower in winter.

[5] The Yungas screech owl probably lays its eggs at the beginning of the rainy season, in September and October.

Pairs of Yungas screech owls duet, a primary song that "begins softly, gradually swells into [a] rapid staccato of 'u' notes , and tapers off at [the] end."