Its name is not derived, as popularly supposed, from the Swiss pine trees (known in German as Zirben) that dominate the woods in places, but from the Slovenian word zirbiza, that can be translated as "red mountain pasture", which is a reference to the red-petalled alpenrose (Rhododendron ferrugineum) that is common hereabouts.

The summit block of the Zirbitzkogel is formed of crystalline rock; slate, gneisses and granites predominating.

In the summit area a ragged sedge grassland dominates, interspersed with almost level plateaus.

The summit became well known to ornithologists as a breeding habitat for the dotterel, a few pairs of which bred almost all year round until 1995.

The area is also known to butterfly researchers for several very rare species, including the endemite, Elophos zirbitzensis.