A large, boldly patterned brown-and-white sparrow-weaver. The bold white eyebrow, wingbars, and rump are striking. Family groups are resident in arid thorn scrub and drier broadleaf woodland, where they make messy nests in trees and forage mostly on the ground for insects and seed. The song is high-pitched, varied, and metallic, sounding like a computer-generated laser gun. The similar Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver differs from White-browed Sparrow-Weaver by having a brown (not white) rump and a chestnut (not dark brown) head with a different pattern.