This small passerine occurs in separated parts of South America, from Venezuela to the southern cone. A study found resident, partly migratory, and migratory breeding populations, with seasonal plumage change in the records.
In the study's photographs, most birds had an all-black crown from October to April. From May to September, many had brown feathers mixed into the black crown or a mostly brown crown. The northern resident population was excluded from this seasonal comparison because it had few usable photographs.
One young bird recorded on a university campus in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, was netted in the low layer of bushy and woody vegetation beside a flooded area. This is an observation from one locality.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.