[3] The white-eared jacamar is found in the upper Amazon basin from Meta Department in central Colombia south through eastern Ecuador to the Ucayali River in northeastern Peru.

It extends east into western Brazil along the Solimões (Upper Amazon) River almost to Manaus.

In this humid region, it inhabits terra firme and várzea forest, both primary and secondary.

It perches at mid- to upper canopy height singly or in small groups and sallies out to capture its prey.

With ongoing deforestation in Amazonia, its "preference for successional and edge habitats suggests good survival prospects.