The Golden-winged Sunbird lives in the mountains of East Africa. It visits flowers for nectar and may make seasonal movements between elevations.
In breeding plumage, the male has black upperparts with a bronze-gold gloss, a long tail, and yellow-gold edging on its wings and tail. The female is olive above with a pale yellow throat and yellow-gold edging on the tail and wings.
It feeds on nectar and insects and sometimes catches flying ants in the air. A study near Naivasha, Kenya, in 1973 and 1975 observed birds visiting Leonotis nepetifolia flowers and examined males defending nectar-rich feeding patches.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.