The Tamarugo Conebill occurs in tamarugo woodland and other habitats in northern Chile; records also show movement into southern Peru. The male has a reddish-brown eyebrow and throat, while these colors are paler in the female.
The male has slate-gray upperparts with a reddish-brown forehead stripe and eyebrow, throat, and upper breast. Its underparts are pale gray, slightly yellowish on the belly. The female is browner above, with paler reddish-brown markings on the forehead, eyebrow, and throat.
In Chile it mainly uses mature tamarugo woodland, as well as riverside shrubs, farmland, and citrus groves. In Peru the account places it mainly in plant communities of Gynoxys and Polylepis.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.