The banded kingfisher is 20 cm long and exhibits striking sexual dimorphism compared to most of its relatives. The adult male has a strong red bill and a short comb that slowly rises and falls, chestnut brown forehead, cheeks and neck, and a bright blue crown. The rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are covered in fine black, white and blue bands. The sides and underparts are faintly reddish brown, while the throat is white. The adult female is equally striking, but completely different! She has black and reddish brown banded upperparts and white underparts with some black stripes on the breast and sides. Young birds are duller than adults of the same sex, have a brown and orange bill and dark stripes on the underparts. The nest is a hole in a rotting tree trunk, or sometimes in the spherical nest of wood termites. Two to five white eggs are laid. The banded kingfisher hunts large insects and sometimes small lizards, usually caught in the trees, but sometimes from the ground.