This finch occurs in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. It inhabits moist Atlantic Forest with bamboo in the understory; males are gray and females are brown.
Males are uniformly gray, lighter on the belly and vent, with blackish wings. Females are browner and have faint streaks on the underside.
At Fazenda Intervales in southern Brazil, a 1988–1989 bamboo seeding event coincided with the species' breeding cycle. It was the only bird among those considered in that study to show this association, and the author described it as a likely bamboo specialist. A species account also notes that it forages for bamboo seeds on or near the ground.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.