The Band-tailed Seedeater is distributed in the Andes from Colombia to northern Chile and north-western Argentina. It is found in the pre-puna shrub zone at between 2500 and 3500 metres often in cultivated areas and near habitation..

The male has a stubby, yellow, conical bill and a white band at the base of the tail. The vent is rufous. Upperparts are dark grey and the wings have a white speculum while underparts are paler grey. I think that the streaked brownish back and the lighter grey on the bird in photo 2 indicates that it is a young male.

There are recordings and a distribution map on xeno-canto.