This wren lives on the forest floor in wet evergreen forests from southeastern Mexico to Costa Rica. It is hard to see in dense cover, but its song can reveal its presence.
Adults have dark brown upperparts with black scalloping along the feather edges. Their grayish throat and breast have dark scaled markings; the wing coverts have pale spots, and the bill and legs are black. Young birds are paler, with gray scaling over a light cream or buff base.
It searches forest-floor debris for insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates. It has also been described beating its tail against the ground as it walks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.