Adults of the nominate subspecies F. r. rufipectus have a dark chestnut crown, nape, and sides of their neck.

Their face and throat are blackish with a bluish white ring of bare skin around their eye.

Their breast is rufous-chestnut, their belly pale rufous, their flanks olive-brown, and their vent area dark chestnut.

F. r. thoracicus has a black crown, less red on the head than lasallei, and a more olive (less rufous) belly than the nominate.

It favors ravines, regrown landslide scars, steep slopes, and other areas that have dense undergrowth.

[3] The rufous-breasted antthrush's breeding season has not been detailed but includes June in Colombia and October in Ecuador.

[1] It is considered very local throughout its range[3] and fairly common in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela and rare to uncommon in Peru.