Dark golden-brown laughingthrush with extensive black-edged scaling all over its body. Wings are paler, brighter yellow, with slight blue-gray highlights toward the tip. Somewhat similar to Blue-winged Laughingthrush, but that species is browner, with a much broader blue wing panel and a narrow black eyebrow. Scaly Laughingthrush forages on the ground and in undergrowth, often in pairs.