It has green upperparts, whitish underparts densely speckled green, and white feather tufts on the legs. It inhabits humid montane forest.
About 10.5 cm long, it has green upperparts and whitish underparts densely speckled green, giving a scaled look. Snowy-white tufts of feathers cover the legs.
In northern Peru, it occurs in humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slopes at about 1,600–2,450 m.
On 14 November 2002 at Yanayacu, Ecuador, at 2,050 m, a female of the subspecies russata was incubating two white eggs.
That nest was in primary forest 20 m from a small stream, attached by one side beneath a tree-fern leaf 1.5 m above ground. Moss was fixed with spider silk, and soft fern scales lined the cup.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.