Western slope of western Andes in south-western Colombia (from Dagua Valley, in Valle del Cauca) south to north-western Ecuador (Esmeraldas and Pichincha).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Moss-backed Tanager (Bangsia edwardsi) [XC67687]
by Daniel Lane from Narino; El Pangan Nature Reserve, near Junin, Colombia (song)
Moss-backed Tanager (Bangsia edwardsi) [XC105791]
by GABRIEL LEITE from San Francisco - Monta\u00f1a entre Mashpi - Pachijal 0\u00b06'42.66''N 78\u00b054'9.85''O, Ecuador (alarm call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
In the past, genus sometimes subsumed in Buthraupis, but this treatment not supported by recent molecular-genetic studies, which place it in a separate clade, with Wetmorethraupis as sister to it. In addition, members of present genus are smaller in size and shorter-tailed than Buthraupis, relatively uniform in plumage, behaviourally less social and occur mostly at lower elevations.