This large ground bird has a white face and belly and long legs. Males have black on the head, while females have a paler brown neck.
The male has a finely patterned tawny back, a black-and-grey cap, white face, black throat, and white belly. The smaller female lacks the black cap and throat, and her neck is tawny rather than grey.
It walks through open habitats such as grasslands and savannas south of the Sahara. Its broad range is patchy, and birds differ somewhat among regions.
It eats termites, caterpillars, beetles, spiders, scorpions, and small lizards, as well as grass seeds, bulbs, berries, and flowers.
It makes a shallow ground scrape on bare soil or among grass tufts and usually lays 1–3 eggs. Chicks have pale sandy down with conspicuous dark stripes.
The legs are pale yellow, and the pinkish bill has a dark upper ridge. Juveniles resemble females and have fewer head and neck markings.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.