It breeds in a belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Kenya and Ethiopia in the east.

It is sometimes considered conspecific with the more southerly white-winged black tit Melaniparus leucomelas and, like that species, it is mainly black with a white wing patch, but differs in that it has a pale eye.

It is a resident in coniferous woodlands throughout its range, and nests in tree crevice.

4-6 reddish-brown blotched pinkish-white eggs are laid.

The white-shouldered black tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus Parus but was moved to Melaniparus after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that birds in the new genus formed a distinct clade.