Adults have black-and-white plumage. In the nominate subspecies, males have red to reddish-orange eyes and females orange to yellow-orange eyes. It searches for insects in the canopy.
Adult nominate males have black-and-white plumage, red to reddish-orange eyes, and long white back and rump feathers that they can puff out. Females are duller, with shorter greyish back feathers and orange to yellow-orange eyes.
It gleans insects from leaves, bark, and branches in the canopy. It lives in pairs or small family groups and also eats acacia buds and fruits; pairs may sing duets.
Immatures have brown eyes that become yellow-orange as they develop.
Males of the subspecies affinis have all-black wings, lacking the white feather edges of nominate males.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.