This antwren lives in lowland evergreen forest in northwestern South America. Males have black crowns; females have rufous crowns. Both search for insects in the canopy and subcanopy.
Males have a black crown and nape, a pale eyebrow and white wing bars. Females have a rufous crown and buffy underparts.
It uses the canopy and subcanopy of wet lowland evergreen forest, including vine tangles. Pairs or small groups join mixed flocks and forage for insects on leaves and branches.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.