With a body mass of 65 g (2.3 oz) in females and 76 g (2.7 oz) in males, this species may stand as the largest remnant species in the diverse Muscicapidae with the separation of larger birds such as cochoas to the thrush family.

It is considered a long-lived species, whose lifespan is over 15 years of age.

Their range on the island of Fregate was limited by the area of open ground with leaf litter.

Destruction of habitat and introduced predators (domestic cats and rats) greatly reduced its numbers.

In 1990 BirdLife International began preservation efforts to save the Seychelles magpie-robin.