Red-backed bearded sakis are primarily frugivores, feeding on seeds, flowers, nuts and fruits but their diet also includes insects, larvae and spiders.

[5] They live in groups of about forty members with both sexes, occasionally separated in clusters when travelling or looking for food, their main occupation.

[7] Red-backed bearded sakis are not considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), even if they are sometimes hunted for their meat.

[5] Previously, this and all other dark-nosed bearded sakis were included as subspecies (or taxonomically insignificant variations) of C. satanas.

[4] Due to this confusion, neither C. sagulatus nor C. israelita were recognized by the IUCN in 2008, which maintained all bearded sakis north of the Amazon River as C.