Rufous-tailed Stipplethroat

The rufous-tailed stipplethroat is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 9.5 to 12.5 g (0.34 to 0.44 oz). Males are the only members of the genus lacking a contrasting throat. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a mostly gray face and a whitish throat with some black streaks. Their crown, neck, and upper back are olive-brown; their lower back, rump, and tail are rufous-chestnut. Their wings are brown; their wing coverts are blackish brown with pale buff or white tips. Their breast is gray and their belly and undertail coverts light olive-brown to buff-brown. Adult females have a gray face with a buff tinge. Their throat and breast are ochre and the rest of their underparts brown with an ochre tinge. Both sexes have a red or orange iris and a dark bill. Males of subspecies E. e. septentrionalis look the same as nominate males; females are more ochraceous on their face and underparts.

The rufous-tailed stipplethroat's nominate subspecies is found from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru to the Marañón and Amazon rivers and east into extreme northwestern Brazil. Subspecies E. e. septentrionalis is found in eastern Peru south of the Marañón and in west-central Brazil south of the Amazon. The species primarily inhabits terra firme evergreen forest in the lowlands and foothills, but also transitional forest and várzea. In elevation it occurs below 600 m (2,000 ft) in most of its range and locally up to 900 m (3,000 ft).

The rufous-tailed stipplethroat feeds on arthropods, especially insects and spiders. It typically forages singly, in pairs, or in small family groups, and usually as part of a mixed-species feeding flock. It mostly forages in the forest understory to mid-storey between about 5 and 15 m (15 and 50 ft). It takes its prey almost entirely by gleaning from dead leaves on trees but also from dead leaves caught in vine tangles.