This weaver is endemic to Príncipe Island. A breeding male has a bright orange head and golden underparts; females have a yellow head and breast with a paler belly. It also uses farms, gardens, and forest edges.
A breeding adult male has an orange head extending over the face and sides of the neck, golden throat and underparts, and an olive back and rump. The female is paler, with a yellow head and breast and a whitish belly.
On the island it uses secondary forest, edges, cocoa plantations, gardens, and farms, foraging from grassy growth to tall tree crowns. Its diet includes seeds, insects, and oil-palm pulp.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.