The Golden Parrotbill is a small bird, about 11 cm long, with a distinctive head and neck. It uses bamboo patches in pairs or small groups and eats insect larvae, small beetles and seeds.
In the typical plumage, the head and neck are reddish brown, the back and tail are chestnut-brown, and the centre of the underparts is white. The black wings have broad white edges. The Taiwan subspecies has more olive-grey on the head, back and flanks, and other subspecies also vary.
It uses bamboo patches and forest edges with evergreen broad-leaved trees. It lives in pairs or small groups of up to about ten and may forage in mixed flocks with laughingthrushes. Its diet includes tiny larvae, small beetles and seeds.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.