This amazingly beautiful antbird prefers dense vines, tangles and bamboo stands (Chusquea sp.) where it gathers insects; in pairs, family groups or sometimes joining mixed flocks at humid and dry forests between 1200 – 3100m in the Central and Western Andes of Colombia (and in the eastern slope in the southern states of Nariño & Putumayo) and south into Ecuador, Perú and northern Bolivia.

Present locally, can be seen in Río Blanco (Caldas).