This small antpitta occurs in separated mountain regions of northern Colombia and northern and western Venezuela. It lives in the understory of humid montane forest.
It is about 10–10.5 cm long, with olive-brown upperparts, a buff loral spot and eye-ring, a white throat and chest crescent, reddish-buff underparts, and white undertail coverts.
It forages for insects in humid montane forest understory. In Venezuela, a study of the subspecies ferrugineipectus followed 40 nests across four breeding seasons; both parents incubated, and laying began in April for many nests.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.