The species is typically found in sparse campo sucio-type habitat on top of ridges and plateaus. Evidence from Paraguay and Brazil suggests that it disappears after grassland fires (Calvacanti 1988, Lowen et al. 1996). In Bolivia however, it occurs in a variety of habitats (Parker et al. 1991, Pearce-Higgins et al. 1995), suggesting that it may tolerate a low level of habitat degradation.

This species has an extensive range in South America, occurring in Costa Rica (one record in 1967), south-central Colombia, south and east Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname (Hilty and Brown 1986), extreme southern Peru (Clements and Shany 2001), central and south-east Brazil (locally in Goiás, Mato Grosso, Bahia and São Paulo states [Sick 1993]), north and central Bolivia (apparently widespread and numerous [Parker et al. 1991, Pearce-Higgins et al. 1995]) and eastern Paraguay (Lowen et al. 1996), but it is apparently absent from Amazonia, Brazil (da Silva 1995).