This thrush lives in forest and rocky habitats in Madagascar. The 2016 guide describes different settings for eastern and northern birds and the western form formerly called bensoni.
Adult males are rufous and gray, while females are brown. Birds of the western bensoni form are described as paler.
Eastern and northern birds occur in forest understory near rocks; the western bensoni form occurs in dry rocky country.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.