Field Identification

Adult male is glossy purple-blue on the head and upperparts, with a narrow red band on breast, pale pink-orange belly with a narrow black central stripe, pale gray-green or olive-gray flanks, and whitish lower underparts. However, the two subspecies differ in underparts pattern in males, whereas adult females are generally much less divergent geographically, all being characterized by an olive-brown head and upperparts with a reddish-pink rump, and generally whitish underparts. Juveniles have an olive-gray head and an orange base to the bill (which is all black or nearly so in adults).

No other flowerpecker shares the same distributional range, which should make this species virtually impossible to confuse with others.