This babbler occurs in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. It uses dry acacia woodland and riverine scrub and may form small groups.
It is 22–25 cm long, with greyish-brown plumage, a white hood and a black bill.
It feeds on insects in dry acacia woodland and dense scrub along rivers. Groups of five or six are common. Breeding in Eritrea is reported in May and June.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.