It has a size of around 40 cm, general green coloring, tail tinged with blue, yellowish undercoat, thin black line connecting the wax to the eyes, lower black jaw and red upper jaw with black tip; yellow iris. It has an evident sexual dimorphism: the male has a pink collar suffused with violet on the nape and a black band with a beak on the neck; the female has a paler color, has no pink collar and black band and has a shorter central helmsman. Immature subjects are similar to females.
Social and gregarious, it forms flocks that can easily exceed 1000 units and that gather on large dormitory trees. It is considered harmful for crops, especially for cereals, coffee and vegetable gardens. The breeding season runs from August to November for the African populations, from December to May for the Indian ones and from November to June for the Ceylon population. As for the Italian populations it breeds from May to August. In Africa, the nest is always located in the hollow of a trunk, often in the nest abandoned by a woodpecker adapted for the purpose; in India it also nests under the roofs and in the cracks of the walls of old houses. The female lays 2 to 6 eggs and begins to hatch as soon as the first is laid; the incubation lasts 24 days and the young ones fly at about 6-7 weeks.
