Central and eastern Brazil from southern Mato Grosso, south-eastern Pará and central Maranhío south to Goiás, Piauí, western Bahia and western and central Minas Gerais, and eastern and southern Bolivia (eastern Beni and south-eastern Santa Cruz, probably also Chuquisaca).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010) and decreasing.
Status NT
Habitat destruction and degradation through conversion to agriculture for Eucalyptus plantations, soybeans and pasture for exportable crops, is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Blue Finch (Porphyrospiza caerulescens) [XC336101]
by Fernando Igor de Godoy from Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais, Brazil (song)
Blue Finch (Porphyrospiza caerulescens) [XC84631]
by Jeremy Minns from Parque Nacional Serra da Canastra, S\u00e3o Roque de Minas, MG, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Often placed in family Cardinalidae because of resemblance to Passerina, and has sometimes been included in that genus. Molecular data suggest that its closest relative may be Band-tailed Sierra-Finch (Corydospiza alaudina) and that both belong with the tanagers (Thraupidae). These two species are united by structure, bill shape, some aspects of coloration, and song, and both should probably be shifted to a new genus, for which the name Corydospiza is available (and which has priority over present genus).