This antbird lives in the understory of Amazonian terra firme forest. The bare eye-ring and crest color vary among regions.
In the Andean foothill subspecies, males are tawny brown and females have black barring on the back. Both sexes have broad bare skin around the eye and a light-orange forehead and crest. Birds farther east in the lowlands are browner, with a creamy-gray forehead and crest.
It forages in the understory of terra firme forest and is often associated with army ants.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.