It is a species with a wide distribution throughout the western Palearctic (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it is present during the breeding season in the central, eastern and northern parts of the continent, and is very scarce in the south (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain it is distributed across the northern third of the Iberian Peninsula, extending southwards along the Iberian System, the Central System, and the coastal Catalan and Levantine mountains; in the Balearic Islands its presence is occasional, and it is absent from the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla (Santos and Tellería in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).

In Madrid, small scattered populations have been found in mountain areas of the northern half of the region, but it is not a common bird except in high-mountain pinewoods and sessile oak forests, and it breeds only occasionally in the east (Díaz et al., 1994).

In the national park its presence is scarce, with the largest numbers occurring in the sessile oak forests of the northeastern corner, and other records in the Navalmedio valley, in the Lozoya valley, and on the high areas of La Morcuera.