This small montane flycatcher forages in vegetation overhanging streams on the eastern Andes. Chestnut on the breast and belly varies across the Marañón Valley.
About 13.5 cm long, it is uniformly slaty gray with a white supercilium and chestnut on the underparts. The account says birds north and west of the Marañón Valley have chestnut on the breast and belly, while birds east and south of it show chestnut only on the breast.
It forages among plants hanging over fast-flowing streams in eastern Andean montane forest. Peru Aves gives records at 1,800–3,300 m and describes it as uncommon in that region.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.