The Black-winged Saltator occurs in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. It has a black head with a bold white eyebrow and throat, a gray belly, and an olive back. A study in northwestern Ecuador described nests placed in dense shrubs.
Most of the head is black, with a bold white eyebrow, a small white patch behind the eye, and a white throat. The belly is gray, the back and rump olive, and the wings and tail black; the bill is thick.
A local field account describes it as mainly frugivorous and records it feeding on madrecacao and yarumo flowers. Three nests found in northwestern Ecuador in May–June 2020 were all cup-shaped and built in dense shrubs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.