It has an olive-green plumage, yellowish head and chest, and pinkish-brown bill.

An Indonesian endemic, the malia is restricted to montane forests of Sulawesi.

It has some plumage characteristics reminiscent of bulbuls, and has been shifted between that family and the wastebasket taxon Timaliidae sensu lato by past authors.

[3][4] A study published early in 2012 found that the malia was not a babbler;[5] later in the same year, a second study determined that it was instead an aberrant member of the family Locustellidae.

[6] Widespread and common in its habitat and range, the malia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.