Extreme south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru (northern bank of R Marañón south to R Inambari) to western Brazil (east to middle R Amazon and upper R Madeira region) and north-western and central Bolivia (to Cochabamba).
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Usually considered closely allied with Spot-billed Ground-tyrant (Muscisaxicola maculirostris) but recent phylogenetic work suggests that this species may be more closely related to other taxa (e.g. Muscigralla) than it is to current congeners.