This small tyrant flycatcher lives in the Peruvian Andes and forages alone or in pairs in dry scrub.
It has olive-brown upperparts, black wings with two white bars, and black-and-white streaking on the breast and head. Its split crest has a white crown patch, and the bill base is yellow-orange.
It forages alone or in pairs in dry Andean scrub. On the western slope it also uses seasonal lomas and agricultural hedges, with records from near sea level to 4,100 m.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.