[2][3] Its scientific name Garrulax leucolophus comes from Latin garrire "to chatter", in reference to its very vocal nature, and from Greek leukós "white" and lophos "crest".

[3] A former subspecies, G. l. bicolor, has been re-classified as a species of its own, the endemic Sumatran laughingthrush, on account of its lack of characteristic rufous plumage, different face pattern, and shorter tail.

[11][7] It is thought to only remain in small numbers in Malaysia due to trapping, but in Singapore it has become well-established and may be displacing native birds with similar ground-foraging habits that are threatened by habitat fragmentation, such as Abbott's babbler.

[9][5] Its success as an invasive species is attributed, among other factors, to social, cooperative behaviour, high flock densities, and being able to adapt to many different habitats including parks, gardens and degraded forest.

[4] It favours dense, moist and shady thickets and scrubs, and the edge and understory of broadleaved secondary forests, where it can hide from predators and take shelter from the subtropical sun.

[4] These small parties can be very noisy as a leader initiates a call (typically with short syllables such as ow, u'ow or u'ah) and is answered with a chorus, in sometimes disorderly fashion.

[4] In total, 4 different types of vocalizations exist, in order of increasing length and complexity: short sounds, phrases (repeated elements), sentences and subsongs.

[15] When looking for food, G. leucolophus forages on the ground, often in small parties, hopping from one place to the next and tossing the leaf litter aside with its beak to uncover invertebrates.

[7][13] The male and female also share brooding and feeding duties while the chicks develop from completely naked to miniature adults in the 14–16 days after hatching.