A flashing vision in midnight black and daffodil-yellow with a deeply forked tail. Male averages darker than the female with a solid black back and dark streaking on the breast. Female has a patchier back and thinner streaks than the male. Both sexes have a dark head, a thin yellow collar, and bright wing panels. Inhabits foothills and mountainous pine forests and adjacent edges. Favors the Khasi pine where it can be found foraging in small flocks. Gives dry twitters and a typical finchlike wheezy upswept note. Song is usually a series of dry, “ticking” trills followed by an upswept note.