Small short-tailed antbird found around still and slow-moving water in humid forest. Medium gray; tail black, with a broad white terminal band. Males have a black throat; females are lighter underneath. Forages low at the water’s edge and in vegetation overhanging the water around oxbow lakes and streams. The male’s song is an ascending series of whistles accelerating into a harsh descending series; it can be attention-grabbing with its grating snarling ending.