The IOC treats the Obi Paradise-crow as a species split from the Halmahera Paradise-crow. A field guide reports that birds on Obi are darker and glossier, and vocal and conspicuous in forested areas.
Compared with the related Halmahera form, the Obi birds were reported as larger, glossy black rather than brownish, with a bluer-black crown.
On Obi, it was reported as conspicuous and vocal in forested areas, including degraded agroforestry.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.