It is endemic to forests on the south-east Asian island of Borneo.

[2] It is highly distinct from other thrushes, instead being convergent to Corvoidea such as trillers (Lalage) or true orioles (Oriolus).

[citation needed] It was formerly called the black-breasted triller and placed within the family Campephagidae.

[3] The female fruithunter broods and incubates the two eggs that are laid, and the male assists in feeding the nestlings.

[1] This species was first described in 1887 by Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on specimens of a male and female collected on Mount Kinabalu.