The mantle is dull purple and the rest of the upperparts and the wings are olive-brown to blackish brown with some reddish tinge.

The neck and breast are slate gray with greenish sides, the belly center pale buff to cinnamon, and the flanks chocolate.

The juvenile lacks the green and purple of the mantle, its facial pattern is less conspicuous, and most feathers have buff fringes.

[3] The purplish-backed quail-dove is resident from the Cordillera de Guanacaste in northern Costa Rica southeast to central Panama with scattered populations from there to Darién Province.

[3] The purplish-backed quail-dove's breeding season in Costa Rica spans from June to October but apparently starts earlier in Panama.

It builds a bulky but loose nest as a shallow bowl of sticks lined with finer materials and places it in dense vegetation near the ground.