It is widespread in humid tropical and subtropical woodland, plantations, second growth, and parks in South America east of the Andes.

It typically occurs in conspicuous, noisy pairs or groups of up to 10 individuals and commonly takes part in mixed-species flocks.

The cup-shaped nest is lined with grass, leaves, or other plant materials and is located low in trees near the ground or in shrubs in dense vegetation.

The magpie tanager was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Lanius leverianus.

[2] Gmelin's account was based on the "magpie shrike" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds.