The Rufous-capped Antshrike is about 15–17 cm long. It occurs in disjunct areas of Andean forest and Atlantic Forest; a study includes five subspecies.
The male has a chestnut crown, reddish-brown upperparts and buff underparts with black bars on the breast. The dark tail has white bars. The sexes differ in plumage.
It uses humid and semi-humid forest, second growth and dense shrubs beside streams. It eats mainly insects such as beetles, moths and ants; the study describes it as monogamous.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.