Medium-sized spinetail with a long tail and a black patch on the throat. Like other Synallaxis spinetails it has a rusty crown and wings, but note the grayish face, olive-brown back and tail, grayish breast, and a white chin. It inhabits wet grasslands and open areas with scattered shrubs; often near water. The song is a loud and accelerated series of “chéw, chew-chee-chee-chee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eu”.