Its range includes the northeastern parts of the Indian subcontinent stretching eastwards to Southeast Asia.

The male have a pink-red breast, belly, undertail and forehead and the chest, back and wings and uppertail are dark slate with a maroon wash.

A disjunct population was reported to be common in Fan Si Pan in Vietnam in 1939, but there are no modern records of that species there.

It was treated as vulnerable by the IUCN in the 1990s, but secure populations have been found in Bhutan, so it is presently listed as near-threatened.

It feeds on insects, including moths, stick-insects, grasshoppers and bugs, as well as large seeds.