It is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, though it is more rarely seen in central, far southern and coastal western parts of the continent.

The green-winged pytilia was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla melba.

[2] No explanation was provided for the specific epithet melba but it could possibly be from a supposed Chinese word or place.

[3] Linnaeus based his description on "The Green Gold-Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.

[4] Edwards was uncertain of the origin of his specimen and Linnaeus mistakenly specified the locality as China.