This weaver occurs widely in parts of southern, central, and eastern Africa. Males change in appearance between breeding and non-breeding plumages, and the birds eat grass seeds as well as insects.
A breeding male is black with yellow patches on the rump and wing shoulders. Outside the breeding season, the male resembles the female but retains those yellow patches. Females have heavily streaked brown plumage and an olive-yellow rump.
It is usually found in small groups and may join mixed-species foraging flocks outside the breeding season. Its diet is mainly grass seeds, with insects also taken.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.