The Brown-mandibled Aracari is distributed south of the Amazon river in eastern Peru and western Brazil as far as the river Madeira and south into adjacent areas of Bolivia. It is often treated as a sub-species of Ivory-billed Aracari Pteroglossus azara.

The male has a black crown with chestnut head, nape and throat. The rump is red. The underparts show a broad red band across the breast with black below separated from a yellow belly by a thin red band. The maxilla is ivory coloured while the mandible is orange-brown.