The species's habitat includes forest edges, gallery forest, advanced secondary forest, savanna and cerrado (dry savanna woodland). It is generally found in well-preserved, intact habitats (Dornas et al. 2018). It occurs up to c.800 m elevation. Breeding is between December and February (Dornas et al. 2018).

Lophornis gouldii occurs in the southern and eastern Amazon basin and adjacent cerrado region in Brazil and Bolivia, from Pará and Maranhão in northeast Brazil, south through Tocantins and Mato Grosso, and reaching Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia.

Conservation Actions Underway
The species is considered Vulnerable at the national level in Brazil (MMA 2014). It occurs in Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve, the Araguaia and Chapada dos Guimarães National Parks and the Bananal-Cantão Environmental Protection Area (Dornas et al. 2018), and it is likely to occur in Gurupi Biological Reserve (Lima et al. 2014). It is included in the National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Birds of Amazonia, which includes objectives to reduce habitat loss and degradation (ICMBio 2015).

Conservation Actions Proposed

Carry out surveys across the species's range to estimate the population density and population size. Study the impact of habitat loss and degradation on the species's population. Monitor habitat loss across the species's range.
Expand the protected area network to effectively protect IBAs. Effectively resource and manage existing and new protected areas. Enforce legislation to prevent further forest clearance. Conservation on private lands, through expanding market pressures for sound land management and preventing forest clearance on lands unsuitable for agriculture, is also essential (Soares-Filho et al. 2006).