Small sleek tanager with distinctive color pattern: pale sandy underparts with peachy blush on breast, black mask, powdery-blue crown, and darker blue back and wings. Sexes alike. Uncommon in second growth, edges, and gardens, where it is most often seen singly or in pairs. Occasionally follows mixed-species flocks. Found from foothills to upper subtropical zone in Andes, sometimes straying even higher. Populations in southeastern South America occur at lower elevations.