This bullfinch lives in montane coniferous and mixed forests. Adult males have an orange breast patch, while females are browner overall.
Adult males are pearly gray with an orange breast patch; females are warm brown without that patch. Both sexes have black wing and tail markings.
It breeds in coniferous and mixed forests in mountains and foothills and may move to lower elevations in winter.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2019 Tengchong bird report lists the Grey-headed Bullfinch as Least Concern on both the IUCN Red List and China's Red List. The categories cited in the paper date to 2017 and 2016, respectively.