This roughly 13 cm tyrant flycatcher lives at high elevations on the western Andean slope. Peru Aves associates it with Polylepis woodland and adjacent scrub at 2,100–4,000 m in Peru and also records it in Ecuador.
About 13 cm long, with broad black-and-white streaks below and a mostly black tail with white outer webs. Males have a long black crest and white crown patch; females have a finely streaked head and a shorter, wispy crest.
Peru Aves associates the species with Polylepis woodland and adjacent scrub. On Peru's western Andean slope it reports the bird from Piura to Ancash and parts of Huánuco at 2,100–4,000 m; it also notes occurrence in Ecuador.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.