The Blue-backed Manakin is distributed throughout much of the Amazonian Basin, in the Guianas and into western Venezuela. There is a disjunct population in eastern Brazil from Paraíba to Espírito Santo. They are generally found in humid forest and secondary woodland but can be quite hard to see.

The male is black with, in most races, a red crown patch and a light blue mantle. It has orange legs. However, the sub-species C. p. regina, which is distributed south of the Amazon and west of the Tapajós has a golden-yellow crown patch as can be seen in photos 2 and 3.

The males perform a spectacular courtship dance involving cartwheeling over each other in front of a suitable female.