Their wings are blackish with narrow buff edges on the flight feathers and wide white tips on the coverts.

Females have a buff-streaked crown, an olive-gray back, and duller buffier underparts that are less heavily streaked than the male's.

[4][5] The ochre-rumped antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range, though it may make local movements when bamboo stands die.

It typically forages individually, in pairs, and in family groups, usually within about 3 m (10 ft) of the ground and only rarely higher.

It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks that pass through its territory and is not known to follow army ant swarms.

[4] The ochre-rumped antbird's eggs are white with irregular reddish brown speckles, blotches, and lines.