The Black-crowned Antshrike forages in the understory of humid and semi-deciduous forests. Adult males are gray and black, while females are olive-brown; the species is also recorded in Tumbes, northwestern Peru.
The adult male is slaty gray with a black crown; white tips on the black wing coverts form wing bars, and the tail feathers end in white. The female is olive-brown with white wing bars and tail tips.
The account reports foraging in the understory of humid and semi-deciduous forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.