Found in northern Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, its natural habitats are hot deserts, sandy shores, and coastal saline lagoons.

Its range extends from north and central Ecuador, through Peru to northern Chile, as far south as the Mejillones Peninsula.

Its status in Ecuador is unclear and in Peru it is known from four confirmed sites, breeding at the back of the beach in association with wetlands.

Because of the small population size and the decrease in numbers of individuals, BirdLife International has assessed the bird's conservation status as being "endangered".

[3] The Chilean Ornithologist Jürgen Rottmann is the director of The Gaviotín Chico Sustainability Foundation which has successfully rallied the local community school students, councilmen and the mining industry, to protect the nesting habitad of this bird at the Mejillones Peninsula[4] from stray dogs and other predators that exacerbate human-caused decline.

The strategies used include labeling and fencing of the nesting sites, translocation of predators and the use of decoy Japanese quail eggs.