The Bar-winged Wood-Wren is a small bird with rufous upperparts and two white wing bars. It forages alone or in pairs in scrub on mountain ridges and is often heard before it is seen.
About 11 cm long, it has dark rufous upperparts, a short black-barred tail, two conspicuous white wing bars, a broad white eyebrow, and black-and-white streaking on the sides of the head. Its throat and breast are whitish.
Singles or pairs forage in scrub on mountain ridges with nutrient-poor soils. It is very vocal and is more often heard than seen.
The whitish breast grades into grey and then rufous toward the remaining underparts.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.