This warbler occurs in western Cuba and on the Isle of Pines and nearby islands. Its gray body and yellow hood are distinctive, and it searches for food in lower and middle forest layers.
Adults have gray upperparts and paler grayish-white underparts, with a conspicuous yellow hood that is slightly olive on the crown and nape. The sexes look similar.
It feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates, occasionally taking small lizards. It gleans prey from branches and foliage and may forage in flocks. In a 2007 pine-forest study in western Cuba, records were more frequent in low and middle strata than high in the trees.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.