It can occur in all available vegetation types but found primarily in open forest, usually distant from both water and dense vegetation. Greater numbers are found in fragmented patches than continuous forest; it can also be found in degraded secondary forest (Patton and Emmons 2015). This species is primarily diurnal, females typically reproduce once a year (Patton and Emmons 2015). They are frugivores and important seed dispersers.

This species is found in South America north of the Amazon and east of the Rio Negro, then south of the Amazon, east of the Rio Madeira to central coastal Brazil (Patton and Emmons 2015). It occurs in Venezuela, the Guianas (French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname). It has been introduced to the Lesser Antilles; specifically Dominica, Grenada, and US Virgin Islands (Eisenberg and Redford 1999).

It occurs in protected areas in every country in its range.