Its hindneck has a metallic green or bronze patch and the rest of the upperparts are brownish gray.

The adult female is similar to the male but with an olive or brown cast to the wings, redder underparts, and a less metallic hindneck.

[4] The ring-tailed pigeon feeds only on fruit, often taken while climbing or hanging upside-down in trees.

The nest is a thick platform made of twigs and lined with leaves and bark.

[4] The IUCN initially assessed the ring-tailed pigeon as Critically Endangered but since 2000 has rated it Vulnerable "because anecdotal evidence and the many threats it faces indicate that the range and population must now be small and declining.