It is a bird of desert fringes, frequenting scrubby areas, ravines and gorges, and is mainly resident, although local movements can occur outside the breeding season.

Some taxonomic authorities expand the family to include the closely related Cettiidae and Erythrocercidae.

The streaked scrub warbler was formally described and illustrated in 1830 by the German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar under the binomial name Malurus inquietus.

The underparts are whitish with reddish flanks and vent, the breast is finely streaked.

It forages on the ground, fossicking through leaf litter and other debris under bushes, and into cavities but will also feed up in the vegetation at times.

[15] The streaked scrub warbler has a very wide range and is scarce in some places and common in others.