North-eastern and eastern Brazil from Maranhío east to Ceará and Paraíba, south to south-eastern Pará (upper R Xingú, Gorotire), extreme eastern Mato Grosso (R das Mortes), Goiás, Minas Gerais and Bahia, and isolated population in Espírito Santo.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
White-naped Jay (Cyanocorax cyanopogon) [XC113192]
by Daniel Blamires from Eliseu Martins - Piau\u00ed State, Brazil (song)
White-naped Jay (Cyanocorax) [XC211697]
by Daniel Blamires from Guarani de Goi\u00e1s, state of Goi\u00e1s, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Forms a species pair, and previously regarded as conspecific, with Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops). It has also been suggested that the two form a superspecies with Tufted Jay (Cyanocorax dickeyi).
Proposed subspecies interpositus of Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops) (described from Alagoas, in north-eastern Brazil) seems to be based on a female of present species in worn subadult plumage, but possibly a valid taxon.