Closely related to Venezuelan Troupial (Icterus icterus) and Orange-backed Troupial (Icterus croconotus) and all are often regarded as conspecific, but no intermediates or hybrids known in limited areas where ranges of present species and Orange-backed Troupial (Icterus croconotus) overlap in Brazil (R Palmeiras, in Tocantins), and no hybrids reported in areas where sympatry with escaped captives occurs (e.g. around Belém, in Pará, in northern Brazil).
Proposed taxon paraguayae (described from 265 km west of Puerto Casao, in Paraguayan Chaco), sometimes treated as a subspecies of present species or of Orange-backed Troupial (Icterus croconotus), is subsumed in subspecies strictifrons of latter.