This tanager uses humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slope. Males have black markings through the eye and a bright yellow crown patch.
The head and mantle are olive-gray and the underparts yellowish brown. Only the male has black along the sides of the head through the eye and a bright yellow crest.
It forages in the middle and lower levels of humid montane forest and is generally seen in pairs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.