It was formerly united in the genus Empidonomus with the variegated flycatcher, but is now considered the only species of Griseotyrannus.

The name Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus means "orange-black crested gray Tyrannus".

[1] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

[1] The crowned slaty flycatcher migrates into the mostly western and central Amazon basin as a non-breeding resident, except in the southeast bordering the Cerrado and Pantanal, where it is resident in much of the western cerrado and southwards; the migration occurs during the austral winter.

Its binomial is the longest of any bird species, fifteen syllables when spoken aloud.