This taxon consists of three subspecies: pinima of north-east Brazil, grayi in east Bolivia and the nominate in central and south-west Brazil, Paraguay and north Argentina. The race pinima is extinct around Belem, Pará (Novaes and Lima 1998), and may survive only in western Maranhão at Gurupi Biological Reserve and adjoining territories. The species was not found during extensive fieldwork around Paragominas, eastern Pará (A. Aleixo per. F. Olmos in litt. 2003). Although the nominate race survives in Brazil from Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul north to Pará and Mato Grosso, and can be locally common (as in the northern Pantanal and Serra dos Carajás), it is extinct, or nearly so, in Sao Paulo and Paraná (del Hoyo 1994, F. Olmos in litt. 2003). It is considered rare and threatened in Argentina. In Paraguay, the species has been extirpated, or is close to disappearing, from much of its range, although in 1999 the species was still relatively numerous in northern Concepción Department (Clay 2001). In Bolivia the species is widely distributed throughout the llanos de moxos (savannas), with many areas holding protected populations (B. Hennessey in litt. 2003).