Boldly patterned, tiny bird, usually found in groups. Adult gray above, pale below, with yellow eye and black throat and mask separated by white, chestnut-washed flanks. Juvenile has gray rather than orange and lacks black on throat. Significant regional variation in exact facial patterning: Indochinese population birds have a gray crown (bright rufous in other populations) and Himalayan birds have an white oval brow patch. Forages acrobatically in small branches, sometimes hovering at the tips to extract invertebrates. Often difficult to see in dense trees; presence given away by high-pitched contact calls (“tsip”) and thin, rolling trills. Predominantly found in broadleaf and mixed forests in foothills and submontane areas, but can also range into lowlands.