Subtropical caciques occur at higher altitudes; they have been recorded as high as ASL and are found along the eastern slopes of the Andes at altitudes of in submontane or cloud forest, ranging from Venezuela, through Colombia and Ecuador, to Peru, with an isolated population in the Serranía del Perijá. Their habitat has a lower canopy than that of their lowland relatives, dominated by trees of little more than height, for example oaks (Quercus). Epiphytes, hemiepiphytes like Coussapoa (Urticaceae), and a usually dense understory with tree ferns, Ericaceae, etc. are also typical habitat features.