The Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner is distributed patchily in Central America from southern Mexico to Panama with a disjunct population on the western slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found on the borders and in the sub-canopy of subtropical forest from 700 to 2,500 metres.

Unlike many Foliage-gleaners it is relatively boldly marked with a principal feature being the ochraceous eyering and postocular stripe.