Its common names in Spanish include yacutoro, toropisco montañero, sangretoro, pájaro torero, and cuervo-frutero de garganta roja.

[2] It has a relatively heavy pale bluish bill, and the plumage is primarily black, but with a dull brown to bright orange-crimson patch on the throat depending on the subspecies,[3] (thereby superficially resembling the smaller male purple-throated fruitcrow).

[7] Pyroderus scutatus occidentalis appears very similar to P. s. masoni, but the color is more bright and uniform with the chestnut belly complete instead of mottled.

[7] Its distribution is highly disjunct, with population associated to northeastern Venezuela and Guyana, the east Andean slopes in Peru, Andean slopes in north-western Ecuador, Colombia and western Venezuela, the Venezuelan Coastal Range and the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina.

The high population is speculated due to a lack of competition in the area[6] Other P. s. scutatus are found in east Paraguay and northeast Argentina in Misiones.

[9][7][8][2] The nest is cup shaped, normally shallow, and is made of twigs which may be lined with fern fronds.

[6] Pyroderus scutatus granadensis Shallow open cup shaped nests consist of twigs, with the inter lined with fern fronds.

[6] P. s. scutatus has been observed diligently check the surrounding area for several seconds on a branch around 10 to 15 meters away from the nest before feeding the nestlings.

[6] The local people have been known to treat Cotingas as game birds, especially the red-ruffed Fruitcrow who is one of the largest in the family.

[10] While generally a low-density species, it remains widespread and is locally not rare, but many of the populations are in decline, most likely due to habitat fragmentation and degradation of the ecosystem.

[6] BirdLife International and the IUCN has rated this species Least Concern, but P. s. scutatus is listed as endangered by many Brazilian states including Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro due to the deforestation of the Atlantic Forest.