The tail is rounded; the feathers are dusky brownish with reddish shafts and all but the outermost have white at their base.

The female is similar but with a paler rump and buffy olive underparts with a reddish tinge.

[8] The Tapajós hermit feeds on nectar and is assumed to also consume small insects and other invertebrates.

[8] Male Tapajós hermits display to females at leks, but nothing else is known about the species' breeding phenology.

Its population size is not known but is thought to be declining due to deforestation and the paving of a major highway with accompanying development.