It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, and Venezuela.

The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) assigns it these four subspecies:[3] The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy add a fifth subspecies, emma, that the IOC considers to be a separate species, the Venezuelan parakeet.

Their face is maroon with a ring of bare grayish skin around the eye, and their ear coverts are whitish.

[10][11][12] Subspecies P. p. caeruleiceps resembles the nominate but with a blue forecrown that becomes brown with a blue tinge on the hindcrown, a pale iris, pale gray-brown ear coverts, a dark red belly patch, and a maroon-red tail.

P. p. subandina inhabits the interior and edges of humid forest from near sea level to at least 700 m (2,300 ft) and possibly higher.

P. p. eisenmanni inhabits hilly humid forest, usually from its mid-level to the canopy but also at the edges, and occasionally in partly cleared areas.

[10][11][15] No movement pattern is known for the painted parakeet, but eisenmanni may make some small elevational changes.

[10] The painted parakeet feeds on fruits, seeds, and flowers of a very wide variety of plants and trees.

Subspecies P. p. caeruleiceps apparently breeds between March and September but this span possibly has two peak periods.

Flocks in flight "call frequently and simultaneously, producing a noisy, harsh and piercing chattering."

The calls of P. p. eisenmanni are similar to those of the nominate but it adds "a harsh, guttural “kleek-kleek” when perched".

About 70% of its original habitat has been cleared for cattle ranching and agriculture and what remains is highly fragmented.

It has a restricted range and its estimated population of fewer than 6000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing.