Adults have a thin reddish brown band just above the bill and are brownish from forehead to hindcrown; the crown feathers have gray edges.

Immature birds are similar to adults but without the reddish frontal band; they also have paler ear coverts and a white breast.

[5][6] The white-breasted parakeet is found on the eastern slope of the Andes in the southeastern Ecuadoran provinces of Morona-Santiago and Zamora-Chinchipe, and possibly in northernmost Cajamarca in Peru.

"Habitat destruction is the principal concern, as upper tropical zone forests east of the Andes are being cleared at an alarming rate."

It occurs in Podocarpus National Park and the Tapichalaca Reserve, though the former has lost some habitat due to illegal encroachment.