An unmistakable large bee-eater with elongated central tail feathers, a green back and uppertail, and a diagnostic deep purple face and throat. Purple throat is more extensive in males. Juveniles are greener below, less purple, and lack long central tail feathers. Typically found singly or in pairs in the understory and canopy of forests and forest clearings within the foothills and mountains of Sulawesi. Call is a distinctive, high-pitched “tsiyup,” slurred upward.