This aracari is recorded from southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru. PeruAves describes it as rare in deciduous forest in extreme northwest Peru, where records extend to 800 m along the Andean foothills.
The head, upperparts, and tail are black, with yellow underparts, a black central breast spot, and a black band across the mid-belly. Its creamy-yellow bill has a broad black stripe along the cutting edge of the upper mandible.
In extreme northwest Peru it is associated with deciduous forest along the Andean foothills, with records up to 800 m. PeruAves calls it rare in this area.
A study focused on the Chocó Toucan, R. brevis, in Colombia’s Chocó Department recorded P. sanguineus (locally called pichi) foraging for fruit with other toucans on several occasions, at heights of 10–30 m. P. sanguineus was not the study’s focal species, so these are incidental co-foraging records rather than a dedicated feeding study.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.