 It is also scarce on the Guiana Shield, occurring mainly on some tepuis and in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana.Explaining the presence of this species in the island of Hispaniola and absence from the rest of the Caribbean, may be a similar theory to the one proposed for the Hispaniolan crossbill ("Loxia megaplaga"), a sympatric bird.In that scenario, the bird's ancestors were present across the region during the much cooler climes of the last glacial period, but was left marooned in the highest Hispaniolan mountains (the highest in the Caribbean) once warming began.