[4] The fringe-backed fire-eye was described by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1825 and given the binomial name Drymophila atra.

[5] The current genus Pyriglena was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1847.

Adults of both sexes have bright red irises; those of immature birds are orange.

[4][7] The fringe-backed fire-eye has a very small range in eastern Brazil; it is found in southeastern Sergipe and coastal northeastern Bahia.

[4] The fringe-backed fire-eye feeds on insects (e.g. cockroaches, grasshoppers, and winged ants), other arthropods such as spiders and centipedes, and small vertebrates such as geckos and frogs.

Much less frequently it makes short sallies to glean or capture prey on the wing.

[4][2][8] The fringe-backed fire-eye's breeding season is not fully known but includes November and December.

It has a very small and fragmented range and its estimated population of between 600 and 1700 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing.

It has been reported more frequently from larger forest fragments, and remaining tracts are destined to become ever smaller and more isolated.