The Black-headed Gonolek has a black head and back and an orange-red throat, breast and belly. It lives in pairs or family groups, and a male's whistled call may be followed by a female's harsher call.
Its head and upperparts are black, while the throat, breast and belly are orange-red. The iris is yellow, and the vent is buffy. The bill is dark grey.
It uses semi-arid scrub and acacia woodland, dry savanna, and seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is seen in pairs or family groups; males give a loud whistle followed by a harsher female call.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.