This antshrike is associated with low vegetation at water edges. The Peru Aves account records foraging in permanently or seasonally flooded forest, lake edges, and along slow-flowing creeks.
Males have a black head, breast, and upper belly, with blackish upperparts and tail. White-edged wing coverts form bars, the tail has white tips, and a white half-collar crosses the side of the neck. Females are warm brown with a rufous crown or crest and black speckling on the sides of the head, throat, and breast.
It forages in low vegetation in permanently or seasonally flooded forest and at the edges of lakes and slow-flowing creeks. The Peru Aves account does not specify its prey or detailed feeding technique.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.