A small finch of the Andes. The male has a gray body with dark streaks on its back and searches for food on open highland ground.
The male is gray from head to underparts, with black streaks on the back, a pale eyebrow and a white eye-ring. Females show dark streaking across the chest and belly.
It searches for seeds on the ground in open areas with scattered shrubs and rocks. The species also uses dry high-altitude scrub and grassland.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.