Sphenopsis piurae is recorded in southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. A specialist species account reports it in bamboo patches.
The northwestern Peru population historically included in Black-eared Hemispingus (Hemispingus melanotis) is described with an all-black head except for a long, clean white supercilium. This description is limited to that regional population.
Sphenopsis piurae is reported in bamboo patches in southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.