The upper side is ashy grey, with a darker back and a lighter top of the head. A wide black mask extends from the forehead across the eyes, nearly meeting again at the nape; a small white line runs above it, and thus the forehead appears white when seen from the front. The wings and the square-tipped tail are black, with blue iridescence on the primary and secondary wing-coverts, and a striped patch formed by the light grey outer web of the tertiary remiges, with the grey scapulars sometimes dropping over the wings to form a grey shoulder patch. The uppertail coverts are likewise black, quite long, and have white tips that may have a signal function as they are sometimes prominently presented by the birds. The belly is white, and the throat has a patch of cherry red that varies in extent, in some birds reaching onto the breast. The feet and toenails are dull pink, and the iris is dark yellow.