This tapaculo lives in humid mountain forest and nearby scrub in Peru's Junín region. It forages near the ground and is often easier to identify by voice than by sight.
Known adult males are uniformly blackish. The female has not been documented; juveniles or subadults may show pale feather edges.
It searches for food on or near the ground in humid mountain forest and scrub with grass. Similar-looking species make its stereotyped song an important identification clue.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.