It was formerly considered conspecific with the closely related tricoloured munia, but is now widely recognized as a separate species.

This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Hawaii.

(This distinguishes it from other birds locally called maya, notably the predominantly brownish "mayang simbahan" (tree sparrow)[3] which is more common in urban areas.)

The chestnut munia has several subspecies that are recognized, including: Small, sexes alike, races differ slightly in intensity of color.

The adult has a stubby pale grey-blue bill, black head, and brown body, with a brick red patch on the lower back, visible only when it flies.