The male has black upper parts with a bluish sheen and yellow underparts, and is sometimes known simply as the yellow-bellied asity.

The plumage of male yellow-bellied sunbird-asities is very bright, with clean yellow undersides and dark black upper sides with an iridescent blue sheen; the females are duller.

The eye is surrounded by a bright blue wattle which derives its colour, like the rest of the asities, from bundles of collagen.

It was once considered to be an endangered species, and even possibly extinct; however, this was due to a lack of ornithological surveys in its high-altitude range.

Subsequent research has found it to be more abundant than previously suspected, although it is still considered threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation.