The Rufous-headed Parrotbill forms small groups in bamboo within or beside evergreen forest. It eats insects, seeds and berries. Indian breeding records describe low nests woven from grass and spider web in bamboo or reeds.
About 19–19.5 cm long, adults have a rounded rufous head, bluish bare skin around the eye, olive-brown upperparts, rufous-tinged wings and buff underparts. Juveniles differ in head and face color.
It occurs in bamboo in or beside broadleaf evergreen forest, usually in pairs or groups of four to six, and eats insects, seeds and berries. Indian records place breeding from April to October, with grass-and-spider-web nests about 1–2 m above ground in bamboo or reeds.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.