Stiles's Tapaculo lives in humid montane forest in Colombia's Central Cordillera. It has dark plumage and searches for food in undergrowth and near the forest floor.
The plumage is mostly dark grey; the original description notes a weak brown wash and fine barring as comparative field marks.
The study records foraging among tangled roots and near the floor of humid montane forest; arthropod fragments were found in stomach contents.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.