This brush-finch inhabits montane scrub and forest edges around Peru's upper Mantaro Valley. Adults have gray bodies, a rufous head, and black markings around the eyes.
Adults are dusky gray above and lighter gray below, with a whitish center to the belly. The rufous head has black on the forehead, lores, and around the eye; bold white spots mark the forehead. Juveniles have more extensive black on the face.
It forages in Andean scrub and the understory along forest edges.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.