The species exhibits some sexual dimorphism, though both sexes have a gray and black bill with a hook at the end like true shrikes.

Their rump and uppertail coverts are gray with an olive brown wash and their tail is blackish slate.

Their chin is dull white and their throat is whitish olive with small blackish brown spots.

It moves through dense vegetation, typically capturing prey by short sideways or upward sallies from a perch.

[5][7] The only known nests of the speckled antshrike were cups made of rootlets and suspended by their rims in branch forks up to about 3 m (10 ft) above the ground and near streams.

The usual clutch size, incubation period, time to fledging, and other details of parental care are not known.

The species is not highly vocal, but both sexes sing, with the female's song being slower, shorter, and slightly lower pitched than the male's.

"Due to its high forest dependence, the species is at risk of habitat loss through logging of forests for agricultural purposes...[m]ining, the completion of the Pan-American highway and the impact of rising human population resulting from such projects are potentially important future threats.