The head, neck, upper mantle, and underparts are black, and there is a small ruffled erectile crest on the forehead.

The underside of the wings and the tail are also blackish, while the remainder of the plumage is purplish-blue, being brightest on the lower part of the mantle and the rump.

[2] This jay forms small social groups consisting of an adult pair and up to three young from the previous year.

The birds are omnivorous and sometimes leave the forest to visit and feed in orchards, fields of grain, rubbish dumps, and road verges.

[3] The total population of the purplish-backed jay is thought to be declining in line with the degradation of the dry deciduous forest where it lives.