Adults of both sexes are gray with pink to grayish flesh-color bills, stubbier than other goldfinches'.

[2] The flight call, which is diagnostic, is given as "a high, clear ti-too"[2] or tink-ul "reminiscent of glass wind-chimes".

[4] The song is high-pitched, continuous, and limited in frequency range, including wind-chime notes and especially imitations of other species' calls and other simple and distinctive sounds.

It breeds from about Shasta County, California to northern Baja California, largely in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and in the Baja highlands, but also sometimes as far down as the coast; its highest breeding altitude is about 8,800 ft (2,700 m) on Mount Pinos.

There are only a few places where it has been observed to nest annually, notably the Carmel Valley and the South Fork Kern River.

Choice of areas in its breeding range may depend on climate through the availability of water and preferred foods.

They move into the coastal lowlands and into the lower parts of the southeastern California deserts, ranging irregularly (sometimes in large numbers) southeastward to northern Sonora and northwestern Chihuahua and eastward to the southern half of Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and even the area of El Paso, Texas[4]—roughly the Madrean Sky Islands region.

[4] The typical nesting habitat is dry and open woods that are near both brushy areas and fields of tall annual weeds, usually within 0.5 mi (0.80 km) of a small body of water.

Outside the nesting season it occurs in many open habitats including deserts, suburbs, and city parks.

It is a loosely woven cup in a fork of several small branches, placed about 10 ft (3.0 m) up near the edge of the tree.