This stocky woodswallow has an ashy grey upperparts with a darker head and a narrow pale band on the rump.

The legs are short and the birds usually perch on high vantage points from which they make aerial sallies.

[2][3] Males and females are indistinguishable in the field, however an old report suggests that the sexes differ in the colour of the inside of the mouth.

The species is widely distributed across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia and China.

Insects may be caught in the beak, transferred and held in their feet, torn up with their bill and swallowed without returning to the perch.

[3] The breeding season in India is March to June, the nest is a shallow cup placed at some height such as at the base of the frond of a tall palm or a hollow atop a street lighting post.

Other organisms associated with the species include endoparasitic trematodes Plagiorchis dactylopharynx, Papillatrema echinata and Stomylotrema travassosi.