On its upper surfaces, the Luzon bleeding-heart is slate grey in color, but because it is iridescent, it can appear to be purple, royal blue, or bottle-green, and the apparent color varies with lighting conditions. On their wings are black bands, while their belly and under wing areas are buff or chestnut.As in most pigeons, there is little sexual dimorphism; males tend to be larger and have a more pronounced red patch, while in the females it is slightly duller. The body shape is typical of the genus, with a round body, a short tail and long legs.