A small bird with decurved bill. The male has yellow underparts (with no brown patches), blue and green caruncles around eye, blue upperparts. Female has yellow underparts dark green head and upperparts. Birds mass ~6g.
Birds are nectarvorous. (Goodman 1996) Has been observed to eat termites (UICN 1990)
Males molt twice a year with a breeding plumage and a non-breeding plumage. (Prum 1997) The molt to breeding plumage happens in September/November. (UICN 1990)
Goodman SM, Putnam MS, 1996, "The birds of the eastern slope of the Reserve Naturalle Intégrale d'Andringitra", Fieldiana: Zoology, new series No. 85
IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre, viewed in July 2000, "Threatened Animals of the World", IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals
Langrand, Olivier; 1990: Guide to the Birds of Madagascar, Yale University Press
Prum RO, Razafindratsita VR; 1997 "Lek behavior and natural history of the Velvet Asity (Philepitta castenea: Eurylaimidae)", Wilson Bulletin, 109:(3) 371-392
Sinclair, I & Langrand, O.; 1998: Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik
UICN le Centre mondial de surveillance continue de la conservation de la nature, 1990, Madagascar, Profil de l'énvironnement, Cambridge, U.K., App. 3