The Scaly Babbler is a babbler of coastal thickets and riverine scrub in East Africa. Scaled markings on the head and breast, an orange eye, and a black bill help identify it. Family groups call to one another while staying in dense cover.
It is about 22–23 cm long. Gray scaling covers the blackish head, white scaling marks the breast, and the eye is orange while the bill is black.
It stays in dense coastal bush, woodland understory, and river thickets, often moving in family groups of a few birds. It is more often heard calling from cover than seen in the open.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.