This scimitar babbler is endemic to Sri Lanka. It has a long yellow bill, white eyebrow, black face, and reddish-brown upperparts, and forages in forest undergrowth and on the ground.
It has a long yellow bill and prominent white supercilium. The face is black, the throat and breast are white, and the upperparts and flanks are rufescent brown.
It inhabits deciduous and evergreen forest, bamboo, and dense cover. It forages on the ground or in thick undergrowth for insects, grubs, and spiders, and also takes berries and flower nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.