The Ariel Toucan is distributed south of the Amazon and east of the rio Tapajós in Pará, Maranhão and Piauí with a disjunct population in eastern Brazil. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in primary forest of various types but rarely seen in secondary growth.

Photos 1 and 3, taken at Caxiuanã, Pará, show the blue basal culmen spot which is one of the diagnostic features of ariel and often difficult to see. Photos 4 and 5 were taken in São Paulo state.