An antbird of the Pacific slope from western Colombia to western Ecuador. It searches low in the dark understorey of humid foothill forest.
The sexes differ. Males are dark slate-grey with a partly hidden white patch between the shoulders and small white wing spots. Females are chestnut on the back and wings with ochre-brown underparts. Both have red irises and a dark tail.
It forages in forest undergrowth, often in tangled growth around fallen trunks, and is usually seen in pairs. It sometimes follows army-ant swarms, but is not a persistent follower.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.