Brownish elaenia the Xingu River in the south of Pará state, North Region, Brazil; it ranges upstream on the Xingu for 700 km, then a tributary to the west of the Xingu, the Rio Iriri, for another 700 km. The next upstream tributary for the bird's range, is the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin's southwest, Amazonas state. The range proceeds 2400 km upstream into the headwaters of the Madeira in northern Bolivia. To the west the brownish elaenia's range continues as the Amazon River becomes the Marañón River and proceeds to the headwaters in northern Peru; this is also along the
Tapajós-Xingu moist forests from other moist forest areas. There are urban centers at Santarém at the mouth of the Tapajós, Aveiro on the lower Tapajós and Altamira on the Iriri River. The ecoregion is crossed by the Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-230) and the BR-163 highway from Santarém to Cuiabá. To the northwest the ecoregion adjoins the Madeira-Tapajós moist forests on the other side of the Tapajós River. To the north it adjoins the Gurupa várzea along the Amazon River. The Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests are on the opposite bank of the Amazon. To the east are the Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests. To the south and southwest