Brazil (southern Mato Grosso do Sul east to Minas Gerais, locally to southern Bahia, and south to Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul), eastern Paraguay, north-eastern Argentina and northern Uruguay. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Elaenia (Elaenia obscura).
Small-headed Elaenia (Elaenia sordida) [XC474207]
by Dante Buzzetti from Esta\u00e7\u00e3o Ecol\u00f3gica de Bananal, Bananal, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (song)
Small-headed Elaenia (Elaenia sordida) [XC832940]
by JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA from C\u00f3rrego Batalha, Paracatu, Minas Gerais, Brazil (call, song)
Subspecies
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Elaenia (Elaenia obscura).