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
Clearwater river (river type) Madeira (notably Guaporé, Ji-Paraná and Aripuanã) and Paraguay (although heavily influenced by its whitewater tributaries). The Tapajós and Xingu alone account for 6% and 5%, respectively, of the water in the Amazon basin. Examples of clearwater rivers originating in the Guiana Shield include the upper Orinoco (above the inflow of the blackwater Atabapo and whitewater Inírida–Guaviare), Ventuari, Nhamundá, Trombetas, Paru, Araguari and Suriname. Outside South America the classification is not commonly used, but rivers with clearwater characteristics are found elsewhere, such as the upper Zambezi River, certain upland streams in major river basins of South and Southeast Asia, and many