While generally common and widespread, and consequently considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and IUCN, the population associated with the Andes is relatively local and uncommon.

The underparts are tawny, the back and head are dull brownish-olive, and the tail and wings are contrastingly black (the latter with a white speculum that is difficult to see when perched, but conspicuous in flight).

The black-goggled tanager was formally described in 1818 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the binomial name Muscicapa melanops.

[6] In 2024, the disjunct population of the East Andean slope was proposed to be a separate species, Trichothraupis griseonota, based on examination of museum specimens.

[8] However, the proposal was rejected by the South American Classification Committee (SACC), who argued that the population is better treated as a subspecies.