This species has a Mediterranean breeding distribution, especially in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa (Keller et al., 2020; BirdLife International, 2024). It occupies the entire Iberian Peninsula except for the northern mountain areas of the Cantabrian Range and the Pyrenees, as well as deforested areas without shrub cover in the semi-arid southeast. It does not occur in the Balearic or Canary Islands, but it does breed in Ceuta and Melilla (Sánchez in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). Its highest abundances are recorded in riparian forests and other forested areas associated with aquatic environments. It is found in all bioclimatic zones except the alpine, being most frequent in the meso- and supramediterranean zones.

In Madrid it is a ubiquitous species, absent only in the most arid southeastern areas and in urban environments. It is associated with habitats linked to water, such as riverbank woodlands and ash groves, and to a lesser extent oak woods, juniper woodlands, or irrigated farmland (Díaz et al., 1994).

In the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park it occupies the southernmost part of La Barranca, the foothills of Pico de la Maliciosa, and the open shrub–grassland areas east of La Pedriza and in La Hoya de San Blas. Within the park it is found in very specific southern areas, in shrub zones at the edges of pine forests, in the foothills of La Pedriza and in the open areas of La Hoya de San Blas.