Its taxonomy is confused, and it has formerly been placed in Fringilla, Bucanetes, Carduelis and Rhodopechys.

Recent research by Zamora et al. (2006) has revealed that the desert finch is more closely related to the greenfinches of the genus Chloris, as indicated by DNA sequence analysis, vocalizations, and the presence of a black eye-stripe.

It may be that the latter evolved from a desert form and later developed the green plumage, or that the common ancestor of the greenfinches and the desert finch (which lived around 6 million years ago) was a species of semiarid habitat which subsequently diverged into a truly desert-adapted lineage, today represented by the desert finch, and the ancestor of a woodlands lineage, the greenfinches.

The desert finch congregates near rural and remote human settlements, and the well-watered orchard in otherwise arid land is an ideal habitat.

Nesting occurs in trees in the spring, often in fruit trees in orchards, and the female lays and incubates 4 to 6 pale green, lightly speckled eggs.