The Rufous Wren lives in humid montane forest in the northern Andes. It is rich rufous with black lores and faintly barred wings and tail, usually moving in pairs or family groups.
About 16.5 cm long, it is rich rufous overall with faint dusky barring on the flight feathers and tail. The lores are black.
It forages in humid montane-forest understory in pairs or family groups, often near Guadua bamboo. The Peru account gives about 2,200–3,200 m north of the Marañón Valley.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.