It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

[3][4] The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and Howard and Moore taxonomies treat it as monotypic.

The adult female is brown overall with a cinnamon face; the darker wing bars are not as distinct.

[8] The maroon-chested ground dove is found discontinuously from southeastern Mexico to Peru and Bolivia.

[8] Little is known about the maroon-chested ground dove's breeding phenology, but it is suspected to nest in loose colonies.

[1] However, it is considered uncommon to rare, and is "[p]robably in danger of decline if heavy deforestation continues throughout its range.