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 Kansas, its nests can be fairly common in suburban areas, and it winters in irregular patterns throughout the United States.