[2] In breeding plumage the head, body and tail are black, apart from some buff barring on the rump, and the wings are rufous.

[3] It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Its habitat is marshes, savannah, grassland, bracken, undergrowth, and clearings in woodland, and occasionally reeds and papyrus.

[2] The species has the role of sexes reversed with the males tending the nest while females are polyandrous and maintain territories.

Studies on the hormonal system show that progesterone is responsible for controlling the aggressiveness of females.