This small tanager ranges across the southern part of South America, from Bolivia to Argentina. It uses scrub and open woodland and forages from the ground into low vegetation.
It is about 13 cm long. Males have a black head, grey back, white belly, and grey flanks. Females have a grey, ochre-tinged head and back, whitish underparts, and brown wings and tail.
It moves quickly in pairs or groups of about 6–8, collecting food on the ground, in the herb layer, and on branches up to about 5 m. A Bolivian account also records solitary birds, family groups, and mixed flocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.