Eastern Brazil (eastern Bahia and south-western Minas Gerais south to southern Mato Grosso do Sul and extreme northern Rio Grande do Sul), eastern Paraguay (Canendiyu south to Itapuá) and extreme north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
White-shouldered Fire-eye (Pyriglena leucoptera) [XC397309]
by Caio Brito from Red Trail, Reserva Ecologica Guapia\u00e7u, RJ, Brazil (song)
White-shouldered Fire-eye (Pyriglena leucoptera) [XC419305]
by Odirlei Vieira da Fonseca from Santa Cruz Cabr\u00e1lia, Bahia, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with White-backed Fire-eye (Pyriglena leuconota) and Fringe-backed Fire-eye (Pyriglena atra), and sometimes treated as conspecific with either or both.