The male closely resembles the hooded siskin (Spinus magellanicus) and has a black head and throat, greenish-yellow upper parts (sometimes streaked with dark markings) and bright yellow underparts.

The female is similar but lacks the black head and is altogether much duller in appearance, more greyish-olive, with paler underparts.

[2] This bird of the high Andes ranges from western Peru and central Chile to northwestern Argentina.

Typical habitat is Polylepis woodland and open country with scrub.

However, it has a very wide range and the population seems stable so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being a least-concern species.