This antshrike ranges from eastern Panama into northwestern Colombia. Males and females differ in face and underpart color, and a Panamanian record describes a nest on a streamside slope.
Males have brown upperparts with tawny streaks and two pale wing bars; the sides of the face and underparts are dark slate grey. Females have a white throat edged with buff, brown underparts, and buff mottling on the breast.
A Panamanian nest record was on a steep bank in a ravine beside a slow stream, amid low, dense tangled plants. An observer also saw a nestling fed a small green moth larva.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.