A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of montane forest undergrowth. The female is all rufous-brown, rufous tail and dark edging to the wing feathers. Male is very similar to Fan-tailed Monarch, but Black Fantail has a short white eyebrow and lacks the white side stripe. It also has a black and yellow bill. Female is similar to Dimorphic Fantail but larger, brighter rufous with black central tail feathers. Voice, a high-pitch, up-and-down “pluk plik pluk plik!”. Also a high-pitch jumbled warble ending in a loud “wichoo wichoo!”.