[3] They have particularly strong mandibles, which are employed to extricate the seeds in nutlets and drupes, and their songs are comparatively unmusical and harsh.

Their colonial nests are readily distinguishable from those of other weavers, due to their form and placement, and the fine strands used in their construction.

The generic name Amblyospiza was coined by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1850 and means "blunt, finch", referencing the very large bill, while the specific name albifrons refers white forehead of the males.

The thick-billed weaver was formally described as Pyrrhula albifrons in 1831 by the Irish zoologist and politician Nicholas Aylward Vigors from the collection of Henry Ellis, the specimens of which were attributed to Algoa Bay and environs in the Eastern Cape.

[4] Ten subspecies are currently recognized:[5] It has a patchy distribution in West, East and southern Africa,[6] where it is present in marshes, uplands, suburban areas and artificial wetlands.