This restricted-range babbler is known from Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India and adjacent northern Myanmar, in the Patkai and Mishmi Hills.
About 15 cm long, it has a heavy bill, a broad white eyebrow and throat separated by a black mask, and a red eye. Gray streaks cross the breast; the upperparts and lower underparts are dark brown, with faint dark bars on the wings and tail.
During its April–July breeding period it uses moist, dense scrub in rocky ravines. In winter it occurs in bamboo and the undergrowth of primary evergreen forest on rocky hillsides, where it feeds on insects. It is often seen in fast-moving flocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.