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) [XC262610]
by Olaf Jahn from Esmeraldas: San Vicente Alto, Cordillera de Lachas, Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, Ecuador (song)
Moss-backed Tanager (Bangsia edwardsi) [XC262612]
by Robert S. Ridgely from Esmeraldas: Playa de Oro, foothill zone ca. 7 km E of village, R\u00edo Santiago, Ecuador (begging call, begging calls)
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.