Size: L: 35 cm. Wt: 150 g. Sexually dimorphic in colour.

Adult Male: upperparts blue-grey, with large, shaggy crest and short tail; underparts white, with wide blue-grey band on upper breast; bill long, strong, black; legs short, dark grey

Adult Female: similar to male, but with chestnut band on lower breast, extending onto flanks

Juvenile Male: upperparts as in adult; underparts white, with tawny upper breast band; bill and legs as in adult

Juvenile Female: similar to male, but with pale chestnut lower breast band, extending onto flanks

Nestling: altricial and naked; skin reddish; bill blackish; mouth pink; gape flanges absent; feathers grow simultaneously all over bird, in sheath