This honeyeater occurs across northern Australia, visiting open forest and woodland where eucalypts and melaleucas flower. It feeds on nectar and small insects.
It has a black head, back, and tail, white underparts with a narrow black chest band, and a long, curved bill.
It moves among flowering trees and feeds on nectar and insects. A Northern Territory account describes it as nomadic and gives a November–April breeding season.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.