Eos reticulata is restricted to the Banda Sea Islands Endemic Bird Area, Indonesia, where it is found on Tanimbar (Yamdena and Larat), with populations reported on Babar, Damar and Kai in the late nineteenth century but not since. An average 3,198 birds were traded annually in the period 1983-1989, but fieldwork in 1993 on Yamdena revealed an estimated 220,000 ± 52,000 birds, and past catch rates were judged unlikely to have caused any decline.