It is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long and weighs 22 grams (0.78 oz) on average, and shows slight sexual dimorphism, with duller female plumage.

Cup nests are built by females out of moss, leaves, and spider webs in forests or isolated trees.

The silver-throated tanager was first described as Calliste icterocephala by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1851 on the basis of a specimen from Ecuador.

The male is mainly bright yellow, with a silvery-white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks.

Adult females look similar to males, but have duller and greener plumage, and occasional faint dark mottling on the crown.

When foraging or flying, the species has been recorded giving a harsh, buzzy jjeut, or a high-pitched bzeeet.

[7] Silver-throated tanagers forage in pairs, small groups, or as part of a mixed-species feeding flock.

Mated pairs of the species are present year-round, but become looser after the end of the breeding season in November to December.

[7] Silver-throated tanagers forage in the canopy, mostly perching on or hanging from upside-down branches to eat small fruit.

Nests are mainly built in forested areas at heights of 1.8–10.7 m (5.9–35.1 ft), but may also be made in isolated trees.

The nests are cup-shaped and built of moss and leaves surrounded with spider webs, mainly hidden among moss-covered branches.

They are off-white to dull gray in color, with brown mottling that is concentrated at the larger end, and measure 21.3–15.6 mm (0.84–0.61 in) on average.

[7] A survey in Costa Rica found the parasitic alveolate Haemoproteus coatneyi in the blood of silver-throated tanagers.