Eastern Brazil (eastern Bahia and south-western Minas Gerais south to southern Mato Grosso do Sul and extreme northern Rio Grande do Sul), eastern Paraguay (Canendiyu south to Itapuá) and extreme north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
White-shouldered Fire-eye (Pyriglena leucoptera) [XC770851]
by Mateus Gon\u00e7alves Santos from Esta\u00e7\u00e3o Biol\u00f3gica de Borac\u00e9ia, Brazil (song)
White-shouldered Fire-eye (Pyriglena leucoptera) [XC488985]
by Nunes-de-Almeida from Floresta Estadual Edmundo Navarro de Andrade (FEENA), Rio Claro, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with White-backed Fire-eye (Pyriglena leuconota) and Fringe-backed Fire-eye (Pyriglena atra), and sometimes treated as conspecific with either or both.