IWEco describes this tody as endemic to Cuba. It has vivid plumage and a long bill, and digs tunnel nests in rotten wood or soil banks.
It is small, with short wings and tail and a long, straight, flattened bill. The head and back are bright green, the throat red, and the underside pale grey to pink.
In southeastern Cuba’s Baconao Biosphere Reserve, the Cuban Tody’s prey included insects from seven orders. Beetles, cicadas, aphids, moths and butterflies were among them. The other two species in the study had prey from three and five orders. The tody catches insects from a perch. Small snail shells, stones and shell fragments were also found in its stomachs.
A separate nest study recorded 46 Cuban Tody nests at five sites in the reserve between 1990 and 1996. The birds tunnelled into walls or loose soil. Nest entrances were about 40 mm across, tunnels about 200 mm deep, and nests sat 1–3 m above ground. Breeding was recorded from April through July, with three or four completely white eggs in a nest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.