Its only habitat was a 5 km² large forested area around Mount Pitt on Norfolk Island where it lived solitary.

In the breeding season from October to December, the couple would build a cup-shaped nest in which around two white eggs were laid.

The decline of the white-chested white-eye began as the introduced silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) became naturalised on Norfolk Island.

From the 1940s, rats destroyed nests and clearing of forests led to a severe decline in the population to only 50 individuals in 1962.

In 1986, the Norfolk Island National Park was established to save this bird from extinction, but because of the fluctuation of this species, surveys often remained unsuccessful.