This ground-dwelling antpitta inhabits montane cloud forest in the Colombian Andes and northeastern Ecuador. It searches for insects on the forest floor.
It is about 15–16 cm long. Males have a dark rufous-brown head, throat and upperparts, dark-grey underparts and whitish mottling in the center of the belly. Females are browner.
It searches mainly on the ground for small invertebrates such as insects and larvae, and has been observed following ant swarms. Detailed breeding behavior is not known.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.