It has an orange erectile crest, black-spotted yellowish underparts and scaling on the head and neck.

The breeding system employed by this species is polygamous with closely grouped males displaying in from a lek.

[3] The sharpbill was described in 1821 by the English naturalist William Swainson under the binomial name Oxyrhuncus cristatus with an "h" inserted into the name of the genus.

[4][5] The word Oxyruncus is from the Ancient Greek oxus for "sharp" or "pointed" and rhunkhos "bill".

[6] Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the sharpbill occupies a basal position in a clade containing the Tityridae.