The binomial and common names honour the American historian and novelist Margaret Leech (1893-1974).

The territorial call is a repeated, soft, thin "hoo-hoo-hoo-hooit-hooit-hooit" which varies in length.

In Zambia there appear to be local movements out of Cryptosepalum forest during the November to April rainy season.

A nest was observed on Mount Moco, Angola, in 2010 when a single nest containing two eggs was found in the fork of a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall sapling in an area of dense undergrowth at an altitude of 2,390 m (7,840 ft) was attended by a pair of Margaret's batis.

The nest was placed at a height of around 90 cm (35 in) from the ground, The inside of the nest cup was lined with very thin strips of grass, while the outside consisted of fine grass and mosses bound with spider's web, with small pieces of lichen attached to the spiders webs.