It is endemic to Peru and recorded on the western Andean slope at 3,000–4,600 m. It feeds at or near the ground, but is difficult to distinguish from similar tapaculos; range and voice are useful identification clues.
Adults are mouse-grey with variable rufous and dark bars on the flanks and rump. Females are more rufous; juveniles are brown with dark bars across the body.
It forages on or near the ground in humid montane forest, humid montane scrub interspersed with grass, and Polylepis woodland.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.