This thistletail is restricted to the Sierra de Perijá on the Colombia–Venezuela border. Its long tail and rufous-brown back stand out; it searches for small prey in high-elevation scrub.
It has a long, pointed tail, a rufous-brown back, a grey-brown belly, and an orange spot on the chin.
At about 2,950–3,400 m, it uses subpáramo scrub and grass with moss. Pairs forage for arthropods and sometimes berries.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.