This finch occurs in high-Andean steppe and prepuna in northwestern Argentina. The male has a yellow head and underparts with a gray face.
The male has a gray face, yellow head and underparts, and a gray-brown back. The female has dark streaks on the head and back and duller yellow underparts.
It lives in high-Andean steppe and prepuna. It builds a nest of grasses and other material in cavities in ravines, walls, or stonework.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.