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) [XC441780]
by Victor Antonelli from S\u00e3o Bernardo do Campo, S\u00e3o Bernardo do Campo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (call)
Small-headed Elaenia (Elaenia sordida) [XC332193]
by Jeremy Minns from Reserva Volta Velha, Itapo\u00e1, SC, Brazil (st3 trill)
Subspecies
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Elaenia (Elaenia obscura).