These are found from the Cape York Peninsula south through to Cardwell in central-northern Queensland. There is a broad range of intermediate forms with the southern subspecies palliceps extending from Townsville south into northeastern New South Wales.
They are found in lightly timbered woodlands with a grassy understorey, tree-lined watercourses, farmland, parks and gardens. Here they are fairly common and you can find them in all but the thickest or wettest forests.
Their diet is mainly the seeds of grasses and the fruit and flowers of shrubs and trees but insects and their larvae are also eaten.
The sexes are similar with breeding season varying according to region, southern birds nesting from September to December and northern ones later from February to June. They nest in the hollows of either dead or living trees, usually eucalypts, or hollow stumps and often near water. The nest hollow can be over 1 m deep in a tree trunk and up to 30 m above the ground. The eggs are laid on wood dust at the bottom of this hollow and are incubated by the female, though a few days after hatching the male helps with feeding the young.