Other localized, small populations occur notably on four tributary rivers: the central Tapajós River, lower Madeira River, lower Rio Negro, and lower Ucayali River; also on the Amazon River, one region downstream of the Tapajós-Amazon River confluence.
There are some differences in the colour of the back and chest in the subspecies, and it has been suggested that these should be treated as separate species: P. viridis between the Madeira and Tapajós rivers, P. dextralis between the Tapajós and Tocantins rivers, and P. obscura east of the Tocantins.
The third easterly extension goes in the central Basin and ends at only the middle reaches of the northerly flowing Tapajós River, a stretch of 800 km of the 3000 km long river.
In the central Amazon Basin its southeastwards limit is the lower two thirds of the Tapajós River drainage; westwards the Quetzal ranges to the foothills of the Andes, from very northern Bolivia, eastern Peru and Ecuador, and southeastern Colombia.
In the Amazon River basin, payaras are restricted to tributaries above the mouth of the Rio Tapajós.
This corridor is about 700 km wide, and includes the confluence areas downstream of the major rivers: Rio Negro, Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and the outlet section of the Tocantins River in the southeast Basin's neighbouring river system, Araguaia-Tocantins.
From Itaituba and southwest a part of the Trans-Amazonian highway (BR-230) follows the river, while a part of BR-163 runs parallel to the river from Santarém and south.
He might then, by his knowledge of bird ranges, state where the tape had been made—Zimmer gives the example of "south bank of the Amazon between the Rios Madeira and Tapajos".
The bird's largest ranges are two areas: to the southwest in Amazonian eastern Peru, and to the south-central Amazon Basin to a combined headwater region of the Guaporé River and the Tapajós River.
The White-eared Puffbird's range encompasses nearly all of northern Bolivia, the Madeira River's many headwater tributary rivers; also the extreme headwaters of the Tapajós River.
To the west, it encompasses the lower reaches of the tributary, the Tapajós River.
The range does not extend beyond the Orinoco River basin of Venezuela in the northwest, and in the east-northeast encompasses the Guianas; in the southeast Amazon Basin the range does not extend east of the Tapajós River drainage.
In the southeast Basin, it is in the Tapajos River and Xingu River drainages; also two thirds of the adjacent river system, the lower Araguaia–Tocantins River drainage.
The Guapore also rivals the Mamore in length and volume, having its source in the Parecis plateau, Mato Grosso, Brazil, a few miles from streams flowing north-ward to the Tapajos and Amazon, and southward to the Paraguay and Paraná rivers.
It is found in northern Bolivia (Beni Department and Santa Cruz Department) and Brazil (in the southern Amazon between the Tocantins River, Xingu, Tapajós, and Madeira Rivers).
Their traditional territory spanned 50,000 km² of Juruena River basin, stretching from the Papagaio River in the south to the Augusto Falls on the upper Tapajós River in the north.
Because of the crystalline waters of the Tapajós River, Santarém has more than 100 km (62 mi) of natural beaches, like the village of Alter do Chão, known as the "Caribbean in Brazil" and chosen by The Guardian as one of the most beautiful Brazilian beaches and the most beautiful fresh water beach.
East of the Tapajós, the range expands into the Cerrado, the upper half of the Xingu River drainage, and the entire drainage system of the Araguaia-Tocantins River, (the eastward system, typically considered part of the 'Amazon Basin').