It is gray-brown with dark chestnut cheeks, a broad white moustachial stripe, and a chestnut area near the tail. The account places its main range in southern and eastern Tibet; Arunachal Pradesh is represented by one record.
The body is gray-brown, with a thick pinkish-brown bill, dark chestnut cheeks, a broad white submoustachial stripe, and chestnut on the lower belly near the tail.
It forages on the ground in pairs or small groups in semi-arid montane scrub and around settlements and crops. Its food is thought to include invertebrates and plant matter, but this is uncertain.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.