The species and subspecies resulting from the split and newly recognized taxa were separated based on plumage, vocalizations, and genetic evidence.

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 sometimes a paler base to the mandible, and lead gray to blue-gray legs and feet.

It favors areas with dense vegetation such as forest edges, regenerating treefalls and landslide scars, and thickets of Chusquea bamboo.

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

The Muisca antpitta's long song is "a drawn out series of clear whistles with a slightly clipped sound...lasting a total of ~6–11 seconds" and accelerates at the end.

It also has a short song, "a thin, clear whistle lasting ~0.75 s...followed by a pause and then a lower, fast liquid trill of about the same length".