South-eastern Brazil (from also southern Bahia, Espírito Santo and south-eastern Minas Gerais south to northern Rio Grande do Sul), eastern Paraguay (Alto Paraná) and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
 
Population
Estimated population is 2,500 - 9,999 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat destruction through continuing clearance of Atlantic forest, trapping for the cage-bird trade are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Buffy-fronted Seedeater (Sporophila) [XC293965]
by Roney Souza from Serra da Ferrugem, Concei\u00e7\u00e3o do Mato Dentro, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Brazil (call, song)
Buffy-fronted Seedeater (Sporophila frontalis) [XC287877]
by Roney Souza from Trail to Hotel do Ype, Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Molecular evidence suggests that genus is closely related to Oryzoborus, which should perhaps be subsumed within it. Further, that both genera should be placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae).