A bushshrike endemic to the Gabela escarpment region of west-central Angola. A 2010 field study recorded it in dry forest above the main scarp and in dense secondary thickets.
Adults have mostly black upperparts, a chestnut crown, a white wing bar, and white underparts.
It uses forest undergrowth and mid-stratum thickets. In the Angolan scarp survey it was also fairly common in old overgrown coffee plantations and secondary thicket when the understorey and lower canopy remained dense.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.