This laughingthrush uses scrub and forest growth across the eastern Himalayan region, from south-central Nepal through Bhutan and northeastern India to northern Myanmar and adjacent southern China.
It is about 22–27 cm long. The dark-olive body has a dark-gray crown; the face, throat, and upper breast are blackish, with chestnut behind the ear and on the lower belly and vent. The sexes are similar.
It eats insects and small molluscs as well as berries and seeds. It forages in low bushes or on the ground, usually alone or in pairs; outside the breeding season it can form groups of up to about 30.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.