Pteridophora alberti Meyer, AB, 1894

Male has head, mantle and back velvety black with iridescent sheen of bronzed green, notably on elongated "cape” feathers ofmantle; behind each eye, from amid an ear-tuft of elongate feathers, a uniquely modified occipital plume (up to 50 cm long) of bare central feather shaft with 40-50 plastic-looking “flags” decorating outer side only, the upper surface of each “flag” an enamel-looking glossy sky-blue to true blue and the underside dark brown; rump, undertail-coverts and uppertail matt black, washed dark brown, upperwing similar but exposed bases and broad leading edges of secondaries and all except outermost two primaries cinnamon; chn and throat as upper head, but large and sparse scale-like feathers at centre and lower border of black throat narrowly tipped iridescent green-blue to purple (suggesting a faint breast shield); remaining underparts dark yolk-yellow, brighter on breast, paler and duller on vent and undertail-coverts, with creamy feathering in flanks; iris dark brown; bill black, mouthpale to rich aqua-green; legs dark brown-grey. Female is smaller than male, lacks occipital plumes, has radically defferent plumage, most of head and entire upperparts grey to sooty grey, darker and browner on lower back, with chin, throat and neck sides buffy grey with broad dark brownish-grey barring (scalloped appearance), and breast to vent whitish, heavily marked with open, shallow, blackish-brown chevrons, undertail-coverts contrastingly ochraceous. Juvenile undescribed; immature males resambles adult female, but upperparts paler, more uniformly brownish-grey to grey (less scalloped), underparts whiter (less dark barring and spotting), iris red-brown; subadult male variable like adult female with few feathers of adult male plumage intruding to like adult male with few female-like feathers remaing, first sign of adult plumage is black nasal-tuft feathering and darker primarieswith orange (not grey) concealed bases, followed by more black head plumage and some yellow in in breast; male tail length decreases slightly with age.