- It is a familiar sight across southern Arizona
- About 8 to 10 inches long with a roughly 22-inch wingspan (similar in size to an American Robin)
- Males feature blue-grey wing coverts, a rufous (reddish-brown) back and tail, and spotted breasts
- Females have rufous wings with dark scalloping and a barred rufous tail with buff-streaked breasts
- Both sexes show two distinct black vertical "mustache" marks on the face and false eye-spots (ocelli) on the back of the head