These are chicken-sized birds with small white spots surrounded by a black spot on a dark chestnut background. The head is topped with a crest of black feathers. The bare skin of the chin, throat, and down the front of the neck, around the eyes and behind the crest is red. The rest of the bare skin and the neck are cobalt blue. The sexes look alike. The flight feathers have white edging and spots and the outer secondary feathers have broad white edges. Their individual feathers are half black with white spots and half striped.

In the wild they eat the typical guineafowl diet of insects, seeds, roots, and shoots. In captivity, they are fed chicken crumbles mixed with whole grains, abundant greens and fruit, mealworms and crickets. Crumbled dry dog food and cat food may be added to their feed to add additional protein and amino acids.

Found in southern Somalia, Kenya east of the Rift Valley from Mt. Kenya southwards, and northeastern Tanzania; also on the islands of Zanzibar and Tumbatu