 The call is a squeaky "sweek", and the song is "cheep cheep CHEEP CHEEP cheep".The russet antshrike feeds on insects and other arthropods, which it gleans from foliage like a vireo.It may be seen alone, in pairs, or with tanagers and warblers in mixed-species feeding flocks

The russet antshrike was described by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin in 1860.