This antbird lives in lowland Amazonian forest and forests along the eastern Andes. Males and females differ in color, and it forages near the ground in dense vegetation.
The male has a dark gray head and breast, a white belly, and white wing spots. The female is reddish brown overall and also has white wing spots.
It moves alone or in pairs through dense vegetation at or just above the ground. Records include edges of lowland primary and secondary forest, river-edge forest, and foothill forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.