Although traditionally placed in the family Corvidae, its taxonomy has been under contention since the 2000s, as phylogenetic analyses indicate that it is not a true corvid, but rather a basal member of the Corvoidea radiation.

[2] In 2019, eBird and the Clements Checklist renamed the species the crested shrikejay and placed it in its own family, the Platylophidae, which was undescribed at the time.

[3][4] However, the family name Lophocittidae, originally described as Lophocitteae in 1855 by Johann Jakob Kaup, may have referred to the crested shrikejay, and if so would take precedence over Platylophidae.

[3] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.

Its alarm call is distinctive, and has been compared to a machine gun.