Description: Brown morph: The face is either pale rufous-buff, or deep buff with a tinge of rufous. The semi-circles and narrow ring surrounding the eyes are buff. The facial ruff is densely flecked and edged dark brown, forming a very narrow, dark edge to the facial disc. The bill is pale olive-yellow and the very large eyes have bluish-black irises.
The upperparts are of a rich tawny or sometimes a more tawny-chestnut hue, streaked, mottled and vermiculated with dark brown and blackish-brown, and mottled with lighter brown or tawny-buff. Bands of buff or whitish-buff mottling run back and outwards across the crown from the central upper edge of the facial disc. Black-brown mottling adjacent to these bands usually highlights this pattern. The shoulders are variably tipped and edged whitish, forming ragged pale 'braces'.
Underparts are whitish or buff. Wings are barred tawny-buff or buff and blackish-brown with brown mottling on the buff areas. Tail feathers are tawny to tawny-chestnut, with the outer feathers barred dark brown. All tail feathers are tipped greyish-white or buffish. The underwing is creamy-buff with a dingy brown wash and grey-brown bars across primaries and secondaries. There is a rufous-yellow wash on the tips of the underwing-coverts which are lightly streaked dark brown with broad black-brown tips to primary coverts forming a dark semi-circular mark near the bend of the wing. Legs are feathered and white with some brownish speckling. The claws are blackish with dirty white bases.
Other morphs: Rufous or grey colouration replaces the brown.