A colorful sunbird; the male has a green metallic crown and shoulder patch, a dark brown body with purple a rump, a purple throat, lemon-yellow underparts, and whitish flanks. The female is light grayish-brown above and pale yellow below. The female can be separated from female Purple Sunbirds by their grayish-white (not yellow) throat. Often seen hopping and hovering around flowers, picking up insects, and probing flowers for nectar. The song is a twittering “tityou, tityou, trritt, tityou.”