This shortwing has strongly different plumage in males and females. It lives in damp forest and dense undergrowth in the eastern Himalayas.
Males have an orange-chestnut throat and belly, a dark blue body, and a short white eyebrow. Females are slaty brown above, with a pale rufous throat and belly.
It searches damp forest and scrub undergrowth for small prey such as beetles.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.