A medium-sized owl of lowland and foothill forest and edge. One of the largest scops-owls. Both grayish and rufous forms occur. The grayish form has a dark brown back with a pale mark behind the shoulder, barred wing feathers, pale grayish underparts with black markings, a pale gray facial disk bordered with a black line, and pale ear tufts forming a V. The rufous form tends to have less patterning. Overlaps geographically with Luzon Scops-Owl, but Philippine is larger and usually found at lower elevation. Voice includes a downslurred whistle “wiuuu,” a slow descending series “kwok kwok kwok,” and a high-pitched hiss.