It is rarely reported due to the majority of its distribution occurring in relatively remote regions within the Albertine Rift, an area with ongoing armed conflict.

[4][5] The greenish-yellow irides are surrounded by an orange eye-wattle; the bill, like the plumage, is black, though the legs and feet are reported to be light red.

Its specific epithet comes from King Albert I of Belgium, as the species' type locality was located what was then the Belgian Congo.

[3] The species is insectivorous, actively searching and hunting for arthropods in fast-moving groups of up to 14-20 individuals in the forest canopy, similar to other Prionops.

[4] Chapin suspected that the species does not have a small, discrete breeding season in the northern part of its distribution.

[4] Juvenile birds have been reported from Lutunguru, North Kivu between mid-August and October, leading Alexandre Prigogine to suspect that eggs are laid sometime in June or July.

[10] The yellow-crested helmetshrike, previously categorized as a lost species, was rediscovered by biologist Michael Harvey's team during a six-week expedition to the Itombwe Mountains in December 2023.