This small seed-eater occurs along the Pacific lowlands of western Ecuador and Peru. Its unusually large, thick bill is a clear feature.
Males have grey-brown upperparts with white wing bars and a black-and-white throat and breast pattern; the amount of black varies. Females are brown above and paler below. Both sexes have a large, parrot-like bill.
It forages in shrubs at forest edges, fallow fields and hedges. Seeds are its main food.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.