Plumage differs between breeding males and females or nonbreeding males. A breeding male has a black head and golden-orange back; populations are reported from coastal Angola and São Tomé.
Breeding males have a black head, golden-orange upperparts, and white edging on the wings. Females and nonbreeding males have rufous-brown breasts and flanks, with black upper feathers edged in rufous to orange-buff.
It uses floodplains, tall rank vegetation, open acacia savanna, overgrown gardens, and tall grass. It eats seeds and insects and may form small flocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.