It is a resident breeder in Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and the extreme north of Brazil.

The speckled tanager's flight call is a weak metallic chirping tsip.

The Trinidadian subspecies I. g. trinitatis has brighter and more extensive yellow on the head, and the black spotting is more conspicuous.

Ixothraupis guttata is more of a subtropical species than its relative and occurs in humid montane and secondary forest, with generally not very tall trees and a dense understory.

The small cup nest is built in a tree and the normal clutch is two brown-blotched white eggs.