[6] The adult male, which weighs 29.8-32.5 g,[2] possesses a rufous-coloured chin and throat[2][7][8][9][10] from its third year of life,[2] as does its most likely closest relative,[4] the red-lored whistler.

The female Gilbert's whistler (23.5-32.2 g) has a pale grey throat and a white ring around the eye; her underparts can be lightly streaked.

[19] It is therefore not surprising that this species is sensitive to disturbance, as described by Murphy following a study on the conservation value of small woodland remnants in New South Wales, where he noted that the distribution of Gilbert's whistler in this region is largely restricted to the remaining original vegetation.

[20] Another project undertaken by a bird banding group in the Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve in central west New South Wales sadly recorded the extinction of the Gilbert's whistler in this 86-hectare (210-acre) patch of remnant vegetation during the ‘Big Dry’ in 2000–01.

[15] This local extinction, a classic example of the 'Extinction Debt', was mainly attributed to: habitat fragmentation, land clearing for agriculture during the last 100 years, introduced predators, increased competition from other native species, and drought periods exacerbated by climate change.

[8] Of the four states in which the Gilbert's whistler occurs, this species is listed as vulnerable only in New South Wales under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 based on population decrease in size and distribution.

[8] A conservation strategy was developed in 2015 as part of the Saving our Species program with some of the priority management areas including: restoring native vegetation, removing weeds, implementing actions to reduce the impact of noisy miners when deemed necessary, encouraging landholders to implement sensitive grazing practices, strip burning with refuge areas remaining unburnt for 25 years or more, raising public awareness of the importance of large old trees, revegetating, and identifying methods to improve soil quality.