The Chestnut-hooded laughingthrush is a medium-sized (22–24 cm) laughingthrush that strongly resembles its close relative, the Chestnut-capped laughingthrush (Pterorhinus mitratus) on the Malay Peninsula. (See a previous picture.) The most obvious difference between them is that the chestnut brown covers almost the entire head of the Chestnut-hooded, while the Chestnut-capped only has a brown crown. The eye ring of the Chestnut-hooded is also smaller and more yellow. The bird occurs in moist mountain forests, between 200 and 2,800 meters in altitude. It occurs in pairs or in small groups. Its diet consists of insects, but it also takes small snails, fruit, berries and seeds. The species is endemic to Borneo.