The International Ornithological Committee and the Clements taxonomy assign it two subspecies, the nominate H. p. peruviana (Taczanowski, 1884) and H. p. saturata (Carriker, 1930).

[3][6] However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World does not recognize saturata but treats what it calls the "Peruvian antwarbler" as monotypic.

Their flight feathers are brown with yellowish olive-brown edges and their wing coverts black with white tips.

[8][9][10][11][12] The nominate subspecies of the Peruvian warbling antbird is found from eastern Peru south of the Amazon into northern Bolivia and southwestern Amazonian Brazil.

Subspecies H. p. saturata is found from southern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru and east into west-central Amazonian Brazil.

[8] The Peruvian warbling antbird's diet and foraging behavior are not known in detail, but it feeds primarily on insects and spiders.

It forages mostly in dense vegetation such as vine tangles, understorey shrubs, bamboo thickets, and among epiphyte cluster on tree trunks and branches.

[8][9][10][12] The Peruvian warbling antbird's breeding season has not been defined but appears to span April to December in Ecuador and from at least September to November in Peru.