An unusual long-necked, long-tailed guineafowl with a mostly naked head. The blue breast is overlaid with long black-and-white feathers, and there is a chestnut patch on the nape. Immatures are duller and brownish, but usually associate with adults. Found in dry savanna and thornscrub, almost always in flocks, which vary from a few individuals up to dozens. The call is an agitated-sounding up-and-down rattling series, similar to the call of Helmeted Guineafowl, but higher-pitched.