This tanager occurs on the Pacific slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador. A Colombian field study suggested that it depends on humid primary montane forest.
Its back looks olive to human observers, but a band of ultraviolet reflectance distinguishes it from a close relative in ultraviolet imaging and reflectance measurements.
In a Colombian study, all three nests found in 1997–1998 were on one ridge in humid montane forest, built high in trees with heavy moss and epiphyte growth.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.