Black vanga with a red back is a huge blue beak. Helmet vanga is found in the northeast tropical rainforest. The species is estimated to be threatened with extinction due to habitat loss. Its population is fragmented and numbers between 600 and 1500 individuals.

The nest measures 15 cm in diameter. It is loaded into a large mossy cup at the junction of the intermediate stratum by the two sexes.

The bird feeds mainly on large insects. Snails, lizards, spiders and crabs.
The bird is monogamous and seasonal. The breeding season runs from October to January on the Masoala Peninsula. There is a case of courtship of the male before copulation. The clutch is two or three pinkish white eggs. Due to climate change, the bird is subject to a rapid decline in its species. The bird is vulnerable to changes in its environment, ecological modeling suggests that much of their remaining habitat will be lost in 50 years.