It is a common bird, seen alone or in small flocks foraging in trees for large insects, fruit, seeds and some nectar.

Adult males are mainly black with a chestnut rump and a tail which is bright yellow apart from two dark central feathers.

It is a colonial breeder which builds a hanging woven nest, more than 125 cm long, high in a tree.

The distinctive songs of the male include a descending call reminiscent of sliding one's hand on a piano.

The crested oropendola is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Apororhynchus aculeatus.