Large, boisterous, striking tanager unlikely to be mistaken. Mostly dark blackish, but look for satin-red throat and iridescent steely-bluish wings. Most distinctive is the namesake white cap that shines like sunlit snow. Sexes similar; females and immatures have slightly duller throat. Never common; found in small flocks that move quickly through the canopy of the subtropical and temperate zones in the Andes, sometimes perching conspicuously. Behavior and voice recall a jay and they sound quite similar especially at a distance. Sometimes travels with flocks of Turquoise Jays.