Its upperparts are dark brown, with blackish crown, slate-grey sides of neck, whitish throat and indistinct dusky barring.

[5] The Choco tinamou is currently threatened by the vast destruction of its habitats caused by road construction, human settlement, timber extraction and mining.

The completion of a new road-bridge has made unprotected areas of coastal plain forest adjacent to the Ensenada de Utría National Park accessible to settlement and further threatens its habitats.

The population at Atrato valley, Colombia, would probably be the most threatened caused by human settlement, and conversion to farmland and banana plantations.

Los Katíos National Park, Colombia, also protects 720 km2 (280 sq mi) of apparently suitable habitat in the Chocó region, but the species has yet to be recorded in the reserve.

The status of Choco tinamou is considered as Vulnerable because it is known from only a few locations within its small range where habitat is gradually disappearing.