This ground-dwelling tinamou lives in humid foothill forest along the eastern Andes. Its known populations are separated, and Colombia also has a recorded population whose classification remains unresolved.
Individuals recorded at a northern Colombian study site had uniformly black plumage, including the head and neck.
It is described as diurnal and terrestrial. Nuts were found in the stomach of one specimen collected in Peru, but much of its natural history remains poorly known.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.