It inhabits forest-covered banks of tropical rivers and damp clearings, wet savannas and muddy and sandy margins of large freshwater wetlands, from lowlands to 500 m (Carboneras 1992), occasionally to 2,600 m (Hilty and Brown 1986).

Relatively widespread in South America east of the Andes, from east Colombia and Venezuela, Ecuador (previously thought to just be a vagrant [Ridgely et al. 1998], but a small population of 20-30 now known from the Rio Pastaza area), narrowly western Guyana, south through Amazonian Brazil, extreme east Peru, Bolivia  and west Paraguay to north-west Argentina.

Conservation Actions Underway
It occurs in a number of private and public protected areas.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue to monitor population trends through regular, coordinated surveys. Monitor levels of hunting pressure. Conduct awareness campaigns to discourage hunting and regulate the number of birds taken. Protect significant areas of suitable forest and wetland habitat in a network of public and private reserves.