It is a green bird with a black head and chestnut crown.

It forages on the ground for insects and their larvae, and also eats berries.

It breeds between February and August, the pair being strongly territorial and building their nest on the ground.

[2] This was a replacement name for Pitta atricapilla Quoy and Gaimard, 1830,[3] as the latter name was pre-occupied by Turdus atricapilla Forster, JR, 1781, a junior synonym of Turdus sordidus Müller, PLS, 1776.

It is now considered as a separate species based on the significant genetic, morphological and vocal differences.