EBird describes the bird as "A large, long-tailed bird of lowland primary forest on Mindoro with a brown back and belly, dark wings with brown-edged feathers, a dark tail with a bluish iridescence, and a black hood with some light streaking on the back of the neck.

[4] Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest up to 750 meters above sea level where it frequents areas with tangled thickets and dense bamboo.

By 1988, extensive deforestation on Mindoro had reduced forest cover to a mere 120 km2 (46 sq mi), of which only a small proportion is below this species's upper altitudinal limit.

Slash-and-burn cultivation, occasional selective logging and rattan collection threaten the forest fragments that still support the species.

Conservation actions proposed by the IUCN include more surveys to better understand population, to better protect the remaining lowland forests and to raise awareness on this species.