Coastal mountains of western and south-western Ecuador (south-western Manabí and western Guayas, and El Oro and Loja) and immediately adjacent north-western Peru (Tumbes, presumably also Piura).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Watkins's Antpitta (Grallaria watkinsi) [XC599780]
by Bobby Wilcox from Reserva Jorupe, tralls north of Urraca Lodge, Macara, Loja, Ecuador (song)
Watkins's Antpitta (Grallaria watkinsi) [XC696794]
by id from Ayampe River Delta, Manab\u00ed, Ecuador (song)
Subspecies
Was for many years treated as a subspecies of Chestnut-crowned Antpitta (Grallaria ruficapilla), but differs markedly in voice, plumage, bare-part colors and habitat, and no intermediate specimens or songs known from area of range overlap in south-western Ecuador. Exact location of type locality uncertain, and originally said to be in Piura (Peru) but subsequently considered more likely to be located in Ecuador.