This tanager is recorded in the Restinga de Cabedelo National Forest in Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. The male's black facial pattern contrasts with the paler female.
The Cabedelo guide describes the male as yellow-brown with greenish wings and tail and a black mask extending through the throat, chest, and belly. The female is paler, with a gray mask, greenish back, light throat, gray-spotted chest, and no black plumage.
At the locality covered by the guide, it is found in pairs or small flocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.