This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar.

The name commemorates the wife of the British ornithologist Samuel Tickell who collected in India and Burma.

The male's upper parts are bright blue, its throat and breast are red, and the rest of the underparts are white.

The juvenile is streaked and has a spotted mantle, scaly brown upperparts, head and breast, with just the wings and tail being blue.

[5] The species shows regional variations in plumage and size and several of these populations have been designated with subspecies names.

It nests in a hole in a tree or amongst rocks that is lined with fine grass and fibres and lay 3–5 eggs.