Rodents such as voles and mice are often major prey, also catches mammals as large as gophers and squirrels. During warm weather, eats many large insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, beetles. Small songbirds are sometimes up to one-third of diet.

Very small owl of humid evergreen forest in tropical lowlands that is active during the day. Favors forest canopy where it is rarely seen, but sometimes hunts low at forest edges. Most often detected by its tooting call, given at any time of day but mainly early and late.