In Panama, the species occurs in dry deciduous forests on the Pacific coast (rainfall less than 1,75 mm), in mangroves and second growth (Freese and Oppenheimer 1981, Reid 1997). In Colombia, C. capucinus occurs in primary and advanced secondary forest remnants, degraded forests and forests with large concentrations of palms, especially Scheelea magdalenica at altitudes of up to 2,000 m asl (Defler 2004). In Ecuador, it occurs in humid tropical and subtropical forests from sea level to 1,800 m asl (Tirira 2007).

Capuchins are frugivores-insectivores, including a wide variety of fruits, seeds, arthropods, frogs, nestlings and even small mammals in their diet, supplemented by stems, flowers and leaves. They are extractive, manipulative foragers. In a cloud forest in Ecuador (Los Cedros Protected Forest) the species has been reported to be a generalist, inhabiting all types of forest, including grassland with Cecropia trees (Gavilanes-Endara 2007, Estévez-Noboa 2009). It uses mainly the canopy and mid-story level, in trees between 15 and 24 m height (Gavilanes-Endara 2007). Males disperse. Both sexes take up linear hierarchies, the top ranking male being dominant to the top ranking female. Multi-male groups range in size from 5-30 individuals. In Chiriqui, Panama, Baldwin and Baldwin (1977) found C. capucinus occupying small forest patches of 0.2 to 40 ha in small groups of 2-5 individuals, whereas groups in larger forests reached sizes of 20 or more individuals. The home range size for the species averages around 50 to 80 ha (Defler 2004).

Cebus capucinus ranges from east of the Panama Canal watershed, including Chagres National Park (Panama Province), Portobelo National Park (Colon Province), Comarca San Blas Indigenous Reserve, Panama (Méndez 1970), Bayano, Maje Mountain Chain, Chucantí Natural Reserve and Darien National Park (Méndez-Carvajal 2014) through the Chocó-Darién into Colombia to NW Ecuador (south to the Esmeraldas and Guayllabamba Rivers) (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Rodríguez-Luna et al. 1996; Reid 1997; Marineros and Gallegos 1998, Mittermeier et al. 2013).

Global Forest Watch data for regions of eastern Panama, the Pacific coast of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador in which this species is known or believed to occur, suggest that, should forest loss continue at the same rate that has impacted the previous generation (2009-2018), up to 18% of this species’ suitable habitat is likely to be lost by the year 2074 (Global Forest Watch 2020).
Two subspecies are recognized:

Cebus capucinus capucinus
In Colombia, the white-throated capuchin occurs south from the Panamanian border along the Pacific Coast, west of the Andes (up to 1,800–2,000 m asl) into northwestern Ecuador. It is restricted to the west bank of the upper Río Cauca (between the Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Central) and extends north across the Río Sinu into Cordoba, Sucre and Atlantico to the town of Barranquilla on the northern coast of Colombia. It also occurs in NW Ecuador (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Defler 2004, Tirira 2007). In Central America, C. c. capucinus extends west as far the Panama Canal (Baldwin and Baldwin 1977; Hall 1981).

Cebus capucinus curtus
Gorgona Island, Colombia, possibly introduced in the 16th or 17th centuries.

This species is listed on CITES Appendix II. It is present in the following protected areas:

Cebus capucinus capucinus

• PanamaPortobelo National Park (34,848 ha) (Matamoros and Seal 2001)
• Chagres National Park (129,000 ha) (Matamoros and Seal 2001)
• Chucanti Nature Reserve (Méndez-Carvajal 2012)
• Darién National Park (555,000 ha) (Matamoros and Seal 2001)
• EcuadorCotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve (Tirira 2007)
• Cayapas Mataje Ecological Reserve (Tirira 2007)
• Los Cedros Protected Forest (Tirira 2007)
• Río Canandé Reserve (Moscoso pers. obs)
• El Pambilar Wildlife Refuge (Tacuri et al. 2013)

Cebus capucinus curtus 

• ColombiaIsla Gorgona National Natural Park (1,568 ha)