A small finch of western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Short seasonal movements have been reported in western Ecuador.
Adult males have a conspicuous red breast. An Ecuador field report also records females and molting males.
Of 220 nests studied in 2008–2009 in Machalilla National Park, Ecuador, 91% were in arid scrub and the rest in tropical dry forest. Capparis lutea was used for most nests.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.