However, a study published in 2020 resurrected the synonymized subspecies and promoted it to species rank using genetic evidence and analysis of vocalizations.

[6][7] As of early 2024 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) had not recognized it as a species or subspecies.

[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".

Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a blackish bill with a paler base to the mandible, and grayish blue to vinaceous gray legs and feet.

[3][4][5] The equatorial antpitta inhabits the floor and understory in the interior and edges of humid montane forest heavy with moss and epiphytes.

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

Its nest is a large cup made mostly of moss and sometimes thinly lined with fibers like grass, rootlets, and fungal rhizomorphs.

The equatorial antpitta's long song is "a rapid, slightly descending trill of short, ringing notes lasting ~1.5–3.5 [seconds]".

It " does not appear to be under immediate threat...however, the Equatorial Antpitta is undoubtedly detrimentally impacted by burning, forest clearing for agriculture and livestock, and other anthropogenic habitat modifications".