The only confirmed record is one female specimen collected in 1955 in the Itombwe Mountains of eastern DR Congo. Its plumage is described from that specimen, but its living appearance and way of life remain poorly known.
The single female specimen is brown to rufous, with dark-brown, tawny, and buff spots on the wings and breast. The belly and flanks are paler than the breast, and the outer tail feathers have narrow whitish tips.
The sole specimen was collected on 11 August 1955 at Malenge in the Itombwe Mountains, at 1,280 m in transition forest. There are no later confirmed records of a living bird; its food, behavior, breeding, and species-wide habitat remain unknown.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.