This species is endemic to Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile's Juan Fernández Islands. It usually stays in scrub along forest edges and feeds on insects.
It is about 14 cm long. The head and crest are blackish with fine white markings, the upperparts are dark ash-grey, and the whitish breast has broad dark streaks. The female has a shorter crest.
It usually stays in scrub at forest edges and eats insects. It has also been recorded, less often, in exotic vegetation near Cumberland Bay.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.