Plumages, Molts, and Structure

Adult: Sexes similar, although the female is larger. Plumage overall silky black. Feathers of occipital crest black, with white bases. Wings are very broad; undersides of primaries and secondaries with wide white bars, and the underwing coverts also extensively marked with white. Tail is rounded and long, with brownish gray tips and three wide bands across the tail. Feathered tarsi and thighs narrowly barred white.

Juvenile: Forehead, throat, tips of crest feathers and supercilium white. Head is also white and yellowish-beige. Breast is streaked black and brown,; belly mottled black and white.

Immature: Upperparts brownish black with whitish mottling, with white throat and eyestripe, and blackish cheeks. Underparts buffy white and heavily streaked blackish, while its flanks and sides are solid blackish. Abdomen and thighs barred with black.

No information.

Iris: bright orange or golden yellow

Bill: blue-black; cere slaty

Tarsi and toes: tarsi feathered; toes yellow

Data primarily from Wetmore (1965).

Female are similar to males, but they are larger.

Total length: 57-68 cm (Wetmore 1965), 58-71 cm (Bierregaard 1994), 64-71 cm (Hilty and Brown 1986)

Wingspan: 140 cm (Bierregaard 1994)

Mass: male, 950 g; female, 1120 g (Bierregaard 1994)