[8] It is a small active bird which is similar to a flycatcher and shows the typical patterns and plumage colours of the genus Batis.

It is sexually dimorphic and the male shows white on the wing strip, chin and throat while his breast and upper belly are pale rufous.

The female has a browner more olive grey upperparts, pale reddish brown wing stripe and underparts while juveniles are similar but with an indistinct face mask.

[10] Woodwards's batis actively and continuously forages throughout the day, capturing insect prey by gleaning it from twigs, leaves and branches, typically while hovering in mid-air.

The nest is the typical batis loosely-constructed shallow cup, made out of rootlets, tendrils, fragments of dead leaves and sometimes lichen, bound together with strands of spider web.