The described specimen had an olive-green back, a chestnut head and breast, a bright red iris, and a silvery-white bare patch behind the eye.
The specimen in the original description had greenish-olive upperparts with a glossy mantle, a deep chestnut head, neck, and breast, and brown belly and undertail-coverts. The upper base of the bill was described as bright yellow. That specimen had a bright red iris and a broad bare patch around the eye, pink at the front and silvery white behind.
The original description reports sightings and local accounts from wet grassland and rank vegetation at forest edges. The stomach of one collected specimen contained small snail-shell fragments and what appeared to be remains of a very small beetle.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2025 assessment lists the species as Endangered (EN). Mature individuals are estimated at 500–2,500, with a best estimate of 500–1,000. The population trend is assessed as decreasing.