This ant-tanager has a long, vivid red crest. A 1966 paper based on field observations in 1962 describes its life in stream ravines of Colombia's Western Andes.
It has a long silky scarlet crest, a dusky scarlet face and crown, a brighter red throat and upper breast, and grayish flanks.
The crest is usually folded into a bright line along the crown and is raised in displays. Birds move in groups of two to five, often with mixed forest flocks, and forage 1–10 m above ground for fruits and arthropods.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.