It inhabits low-lying marshes or inundated grasslands in the Cerrado region, where there are dense tussock-grasses (0.3-2 m in height) and usually 0.5-2 cm of standing water (D. R. Capper, J. Mazar Barnett and R. P. Clay in litt. 1999). Suitable grasslands are often located in areas of undulating terrain adjacent to gallery forest (D. R. Capper, J. Mazar Barnett and R. P. Clay in litt. 1999), but the Bolivian records were in partially flooded savanna and a belt of Cyperus giganticus fringing a lake (Brace et al. 1998). Shows some tolerance to burned habitat (de Castro et al. 2014).

Recorded from widely disjunct areas in east Paraguay, central Brazil and central Bolivia (Marini et al. 2024, GBIF.org 2025). It may also occur in north-east Argentina (D. R. Capper, J. Mazar Barnett and R. P. Clay in litt. 1999).

Conservation Actions Underway
Some areas of this species' range are protected. Listed nationally as Endangered in Brazil (Marini et al. 2024).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey using tape-playback, concentrating on the large gaps in its distribution in the Brazilian Cerrado, Concepción, Amambay and San Pedro departments, north-east Paraguay, and areas of similar habitat in north-east Argentina. Protect and effectively manage lowland marshes and wetlands where this species is known to occur, using either the protected area network or OECMs as appropriate.