[6] The common name Chami recognizes the Embera Chamí indigenous community who inhabit the western slopes of Colombian Andes.

[1] Grallaria antpittas are a "wonderful group of plump and round antbirds whose feathers are often fluffed up...they have stout bills [and] very short tails".

The center of their belly is a lighter buffy brown with a slight scaly pattern on its lower part.

However, it appears to favor the floor and understory of forest that is heavy with moss and epiphytes and has stands of Chusquea bamboo.

It forages while running or hopping on the forest floor and stopping to find prey by flipping aside leaf litter and probing the soil.

The Chami antpitta's long song is "a rapid, slightly descending trill of short, low bandwidth notes lasting ~2.5–3.5 [seconds]".