This babbler can be easily distinguished from other babblers by its rufous colouration and bright orange bill and legs.  Sexes alike.  Fairly common in all the forests in the wet zone and in the hills to the highest elevations.  Though it is a forest bird it often ventures in to well-wooded gardens in adjacent areas.  Always in small groups busily working their way through foliage of trees and understory.  Another nucleus species of the feeding waves of the Sinharaja Forest.  A noisy bird that reveals its presence by the continuous chattering and squeaking.