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
River tyrannulet mostly contiguous stretches, about 100 to 150 km in width. The rivers in the Amazon Basin, going upstream are the following: Amazon River, (Tocantins, Araguaia— east of the Xingu), Xingu River, Madeira, and Marañón-Ucayali, (in Amazonian Peru). For the Araguaia River, the bird's range continues only downstream to the Tocantin confluence, then down the Tocantins to the Pacific, (500 km east of the Amazon River outlet; the Xingu River confluence range connects to the Tocantins range.) On the Madeira River, from Amazonian Bolivia, the range only extends into the country by 300 km of the 2300 km Madeira River range.