The pin-striped tit-babbler was formally described in 1822 by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield based on a specimen collected in Sumatra.

[2][3] The pin-striped tit-babbler was formerly placed in the genus Macronus but based on the results of a large molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019,[4] the species was moved to the genus Mixornis that had been introduced in 1842 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth.

[4] The species has also been split following a study by Nigel Collar to distinguish the morphologically distinct Bornean and Javan populations, which have since been renamed the bold-striped tit-babbler (Mixornis bornensis), from the rest of the pin-striped tit-babbler species complex.

They breed in the pre-monsoon season from February to July and build a loose ball shaped nest made from grasses and leaves.

The species is widely distributed and is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.