This vanga is endemic to humid evergreen forest in eastern Madagascar. It is recorded from sea level to 2,000 m, though its distribution is patchy.
Males have bluish-grey upperparts, a black head and throat, white sides of the neck and pale underparts. Females have olive upperparts and an orange breast, with a different extent of dark hood.
It uses its flattened bill to probe and peel dead wood and bark for invertebrates; small vertebrates and chameleons are also reported as prey.
It occurs alone, in pairs or small family groups and may join mixed-species flocks. Its breeding biology is described as poorly known.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.