It is largely restricted to the sholas, isolated cloud forests found in high altitudes that are separated by rolling montane grassland.

The thrush stays on the terrestrial lower canopy of the moist shola ecosystem.

The scaled pattern of this species gives it a protective side of camouflage in terrestrial understory of the forest.

Habitat extent is distributed throughout the moist shola forests in the region.

The sexes are similar, 27–31 cm long, with black scaling on a paler white or yellowish background.