North-western Venezuela (Sierra de Perijá, Mérida) and Andes of Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru (Cajamarca and San Martín south, locally, to Puno).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Variegated Bristle Tyrant (Pogonotriccus poecilotis) [XC55377]
by Andrew Spencer from La Argentina.Vereda.Quebrada Negra. Huila., Colombia (?)
Variegated Bristle Tyrant (Pogonotriccus poecilotis) [XC238521]
by Niels Krabbe from Ca\u00f1\u00f3n del r\u00edo Barbas, Filandia, Quind\u00edo, Colombia (call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Birds from extreme north-western Venezuela (Sierra de Perijá) described as subspecies pifanoi, supposedly with somewhat more blackish crown, but this difference virtually imperceptible and may represent individual variation.