This is a small mannikin described here from its New Britain population. It has a black head and breast and eats grass seeds and sugarcane seed heads.
At about 11 cm long, it has a black head and breast with a blackish-brown mantle, back, and wings.
The species account lists dry grassland, swamps, gardens, and open forest as habitats, and seeds and sugarcane seed heads as food.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.