This finch lives at high elevations in southwestern China. Males have red markings around the brow and cheeks, while females are olive or yellow-green. It may move to lower elevations in winter.
Males have deep red on the brow, forehead, cheeks, and throat, with a reddish-brown back, chestnut rump, and gray underparts. In females, the red areas are replaced by yellow-green to olive tones.
It uses coniferous and mixed forests, forest edges, and nearby scrub. In winter it descends to lower elevations of about 2,000–3,000 m and searches for food on lower branches or near the ground in pairs or small flocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.