This guineafowl lives in humid primary forest and may form flocks of several dozen outside the breeding season.
Its body is black with fine white spots, and a long black crest runs from the forehead to the crown. The head and upper neck have bare grey skin, and the eye is red.
Plumed Guineafowl are ground-dwelling birds of African tropical forest, recorded across Cameroon’s Dja Faunal Reserve. In Gabon, cameras have also documented them using fruit beneath forest trees.
A 2022 master’s study in Lopé National Park investigated animals visiting three tree species. Beneath one Xylopia aethiopica, 24 days of camera sampling produced 57 videos representing 41 independent visits. Eleven mammal species and two bird species were recorded there.
Plumed Guineafowl appeared in one event, involving five birds that consumed whole fruit from a pile. Researchers had gathered the fruit in front of the camera and replenished it weekly. This short visit documented a flock using fruit available on the forest floor.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2023 Dja report identified guineafowls, including this species, as birds hunted for food, possibly unsustainably. Retaining forest and investigating hunting impacts are important locally. Repeated surveys of occupied sites can also inform protection of the forest’s birds.