The Band-tailed Manakin is distributed in the southern part of the Amazon Basin from eastern Peru and Bolivia and into Brazilian Amazonia as well as south through Mato Grosso and into south-east Paraguay and north-east Argentina. It is found in várzae and gallery forest.

Different sub-species have varying degrees of red and yellow on the underparts. These photos show the sub-species P. f. scarlatina in which the male is a deeper and more widespread red than the nominate.

Photos 1 to 4 were taken at the Serra de Baturité in Ceará which is a disjunct and isolated population well distant from the main population.