Males are black and white with a white nape band; females are brown. The species ranges from southern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia through northwestern Brazil to the Manaus region, and into southern Guyana.
It has an elongated body, relatively long tail, and a large triangular bill thick at the base. Males are black and white, with a white nape band; females are brown above and become whitish toward the rear underparts.
It uses low forests and savannas with scrub, including edges and ridges in white-sand forest. It feeds mainly on seeds, also insects and recorded mistletoe fruit, and forages alone or in pairs in dense vegetation.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.