Adult male is strikingly beautiful, with royal blue upperparts, white belly, and black face, throat, and breast; immature male has the adult’s blue wings but is brown otherwise. Female brown all over, with a smaller-headed profile than other brown flycatchers in range; young male very similar. Adult male very similar to the related Zappey's Flycatcher (no overlap in breeding range, but overlaps during migration), which lacks the black breast patch. Song is a short, sad-sounding series of whistles. Breeds in wooded lowland and submontane areas; winters in similar habitat, as well as more open areas.