Also known as the Antipodes green parakeet, this parakeet is a plump bird with a green head and body, but with purplish-blue wing-coverts and some flight feathers. The forehead and face are a bright emerald green, while the rest of the plumage is a more olive colour, being yellower below. This bird is the largest of its genus, and produces a wide range of chattering calls, lower-pitched than other Cyanoramphus species.