This cuckoo has a grey cap and rufous back. Some details of its range and seasonal movements remain poorly known.
It is about 26 cm long and weighs about 47 g. The crown is grey, the back rufous, and the underside dark buff. Its long, graduated tail is dark, with white tips visible underneath on all but the central feathers.
It eats insects, especially caterpillars, and forages low in dense scrub, where it is secretive. In Colombia, breeding birds were recorded in May; they build a platform nest of sticks and lichens one to two metres above the ground and lay two or three greenish-white eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.