This ovenbird occurs in tall grass along large Amazonian rivers. Adults have a black throat, while juveniles have a whitish throat.
The head and mantle are gray-brown, and the folded wing and tail are rufous. Adults have a black throat; juveniles have a whitish throat. The center of the belly is pale.
The species account places its foraging in tall grass on the edges of large rivers. A point-count study in northeastern Peru detected it at only two mainland riparian points and at none of the upland sites; density on the mainland was lower than on river islands.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.