Mainly dark brown plumage with light streaking on head and yellowish rump; subspecies leucosticta also with white spotting on face, breast and upper wing-coverts.

The call is a short buzzing note, repeated in flight.

It has been recorded from Saibai Island, Queensland, Australian territory in north-western Torres Strait.

Its preferred habitat is the grassy fringes of streams, forest clearings and abandoned gardens with secondary growth, in lowland New Guinea up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) altitude.

As a species with a large range and no evidence of population decline, it is assessed as being of Least Concern.