This meadowlark occurs in western South America from Colombia and Ecuador through Peru to northern Chile. Males have a dark body, white eyebrow, and red throat and breast, and forage on the ground in open country.
The male is dark brown, with a nearly black head, conspicuous white eyebrow, and bright red throat and breast. The female is paler brown, with less red on the breast.
It uses open farmland, arid grassland, and desert areas with sparse scrub. It forages mainly on the ground for insects and other food and nests on the ground, often beneath a shrub or grass clump.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.