Found in open or bushy woodlands or along the margins of agricultural and residential areas, this sleek, crested brown bird is between the size of a sparrow and a robin. The broad yellow band at the tip of the tail is conspicuous and its voice is a high, thin lisp or zeee. It is the only sleek brown bird with a long crest.

Breeding from Canada to north Georgia and west to Kansas, its nests can be fairly common in suburban areas, and it winters in irregular patterns throughout the United States.