Its face, throat, and most of its underparts are yellow; its belly and undertail coverts are white and its flanks have a dull brownish wash. Subspecies T. f. turquinensis is slightly larger than the nominate; its crown and upperparts are sooty gray and the wash on its flanks is gray rather than brownish.

T. f. turquinensis is found in the Sierra Maestra along the southeastern Cuban coast.

It inhabits all available forest types as long as they have a relatively undisturbed understory, and also scrubby thickets in drier areas.

It tends to occur in scrubby semi-arid woodlands near the coast and in more humid forest at higher elevations.

[4] The Oriente warbler forages from the ground to the forest mid-level, mainly by gleaning but also by hover-gleaning and probing bark and clumps of dead leaves.

It makes a nest of moss, grass, rootlets, and other plant fibers.

It usually places it in a clump of Tillandsia (an epiphyte) about 1 m (3 ft) up on a branch or fork.