A dumpy bird with a blue-gray head, a chunky bill, a brown back, and a pale belly with dark streaks. The breast band is broken into two patches and is orange in the male and buff in the female. Pairs are resident at middle levels and in the understory of lowland and montane forest. Call is a thin high-pitched whistle “heeeuuw”; the species also displays with a bizarre mechanical rattle “prrdddrrtt” made by the wings. African Broadbill is smaller and duller than Gray-headed, and Rufous-sided Broadbill has a dark head and white wingbars.