This terrestrial bird is endemic to central Chile. It walks with its tail raised and scratches or digs with one foot to find invertebrates. It prefers rocky ravines and scrub.
It is a medium-sized bird with mostly brown plumage, a barred belly and two moustache-like whitish patches on the throat. Its legs are large and strong.
It lives mainly on the ground and uses dense low vegetation for cover. During a two-year study at 59 sites, birds dug in soil or lifted rocks to take earthworms and beetle larvae. The report described earthen-bank nest cavities up to about 2 m long and two eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.