All birds have green upperparts, grey crown and upper back, yellow tip to the tail and dark bill and legs.

Juvenile birds have buffish underparts with dark barring and yellow edges to the wing-feathers.

It forages in the canopy and middle levels of the forest and joins mixed-species feeding flocks outside the breeding season.

There are three subspecies: C. n. nigrifrons occurs from central Kenya southwards through Tanzania to northern Malawi.

C. n. sandgroundi occurs in southern Malawi, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe and north-eastern South Africa.