This barbtail lives in Venezuelan montane forest. In a study on the Paria Peninsula, it searched holes in fallen logs and moved leaves aside with its bill to find arthropods.
Breast feather patterns differ by subspecies. In the nominate form, dark edges enclose a pale drop-shaped center; the Paria subspecies has a broad pale central stripe.
In montane forest on the Paria Peninsula, birds foraged mostly on the ground. They probed holes in fallen trunks and rotten logs and pushed leaves aside with the bill to find arthropods.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.