This small bird occurs in forests from western to eastern Africa. Its silvery-grey crown and back contrast with a black face and white spots on the upper wings.
Adults have a black forehead and black sides to the head, with a silvery-grey crown, nape, and back. White spots mark the upper wings. Juveniles are more uniform in color.
It uses forest edges, clearings, roadsides, and streamsides, often in the canopy or middle levels. It is described as rather solitary and eats small insects such as ants and termites, as well as fruit and seeds; it sometimes takes nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In surveys on the IITA campus in Ibadan, Nigeria, during 2016–2017, the Grey-crowned Negrofinch was recorded on fewer than one quarter of transects and classed as rare locally.