[7] It is commonly found in lowland moist forest in subtropical and tropical regions up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) altitude.

Its back and head are black to chestnut in color, brown on its wings, slaty grey on its breast, white on its throat,[5] grey-brown on remainder of its underparts with darker barring on flanks and undertail.

[5] Like other tinamous, it feeds on fruit and seeds and some invertebrates, in particular, ants and termites.

[5] The slaty-breasted tinamou male attracts 2 to 4 females to lay in its nest on the ground and in thick vegetation or between the raised roots of a tree.

[5] The IUCN has classified the slaty-breasted as vulnerable and it has an occurrence range of 330,000 km2 (130,000 sq mi).