Pacific slope in extreme eastern Panama (south-eastern Darién southern and east of R Chepo and R Chucunaque) and western Colombia (eastern along northern base of Andes to Magdalena Valley in Antioquia, and in Pacific lowlands) south to north-western Ecuador (northern Esmeraldas).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Lemon-spectacled Tanager (Chlorothraupis olivacea) [XC62215]
by Andrew Spencer from Playa de Oro, Esmeraldas, Ecuador (call)
Lemon-spectacled Tanager (Chlorothraupis olivacea) [XC242389]
by Niels Krabbe from Esmeraldas: right bank Rio Santiago, above Estero Pote 7 km E Playa de Oro, Ecuador (call, calls)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Molecular-genetic evidence indicates that this genus may form a monophyletic group with Piranga and Habia, and that all three are more closely related to cardinals (Cardinalidae) than to true tanagers.