The red-and-black grosbeak was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[3] Gmelin based his description on the "black-headed grosbeak" that had been described and illustrated in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds.

[6] Both sexes of red-and-black grosbeak sing "an exceptionally sweet series of halting phrases" [1].

[6] The red-and-black grosbeak is primarily found from far eastern Venezuela east through the Guianas and into northern Brazil.

It inhabits mature humid terra firme and várzea forest from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).