A stocky bird, it is the largest Caribbean corvid, measuring 42–46 centimetres or 17–18 inches in length.

The black bill is long and deep, and curves gently downward to the tip, giving the bird a large headed appearance.

It inhabits both lowland and mid-elevation mountain forest on Hispaniola, and somewhat tolerates degraded areas used for agriculture, as well as some urban landscapes.

The diet is typical of most forest crows, comprising a large amount of fruit but a degree of invertebrate food is also taken, especially when feeding young.

It has been designated as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN, due to having a severely fragmented population which is mostly decreasing, and several other threats (mainly hunting for both food and as a crop pest, lack of enforcement of conservation laws, possible spread of West Nile virus, destruction of habitat for agriculture and timber, capture for the pet trade, and attacks on nest sites by the recently arrived pearly-eyed thrasher, Margarops fuscatus); the same factors that led to its extirpation on Puerto Rico and Saint Croix seem to affect the remaining populations on Hispaniola and surrounding islands.