Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela.
Amazonian southern Colombia, southern Venezuela (Amazonas, Bolívar) and southern Guyana to eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Bolivia and north-western and north-central Brazil; also northern French Guiana and extreme north-central Brazil (north-eastern Amapá).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) [XC836548]
by Fernando Igor de Godoy from Cant\u00e1, Roraima, Brazil (call, duet, song)
Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) [XC694082]
by Mauricio Cuellar Ramirez (@Birding.travel) from Play\u00f3n Rio Orteguaza - Vereda Canelos, Colombia (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Genus merged with Ochthoeca by some authors, but separate generic status supported by morphological and anatomical evidence and differences in behaviour and habitat.