The Black-headed Antbird differs in plumage by sex: males are mainly dark gray with a black head and throat, while females have gray-brown upperparts and rufous around the face and throat. Reports describe army-ant following north of the Amazon and territorial singing by pairs near Manaus.
Males are mainly dark gray with a black head and throat and white tips on the shoulder feathers. Females have gray or olive-brown upperparts, with rufous on the face, throat, and upper breast.
A summary of Willis’s 1982 study reports birds following army-ant swarms in forest, at forest edges, and in second growth north of the Amazon. Away from swarms they moved through low dense vegetation; near Manaus, pairs sang and displayed territorially.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.