It lives in the undergrowth of humid forest, especially near edges, at altitudes of 300 to 1,200 metres (980 to 3,940 ft) in Colombia and Panama.

[2][3] Until recently, the black-headed brushfinch was placed in the genus Buarremon.

[4] The black-headed brushfinch was often treated as a subspecies of the stripe-headed brushfinch (A. torquatus), but the distributions of the two approach each other closely in Colombia with no evidence of intergradation.

[5] In addition, the Costa Rican brushfinch, A. costaricensis has often been treated as a subspecies of the stripe-headed brushfinch, or a subspecies of the black-headed brushfinch,[5] but based on ecology, morphology, song, and molecular work, it has recently been suggested that A. costaricensis is worthy of treatment as a species.

[6] In that case, the black-headed brushfinch would only include the subspecies tacarcunae, and be restricted to Colombia and eastern Panama.