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) [XC436505]
by JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA from Reserva do Setor S\u00edtio de Recreio Cara\u00edbas-Goi\u00e2nia, Goi\u00e1s, Brazil (song)
White-naped Jay (Cyanocorax cyanopogon) [XC769459]
by JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA from Porto Franco, Maranh\u00e3o Ecopousada Brasil, 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.