This hummingbird occurs in moist montane habitats, oak-pine woodland, and gardens in Central America. The male has a glittering blue crown and white underparts, and often feeds at flowering epiphytes.
The male has a glittering turquoise to violet-blue crown, golden-green to bronze-green back and flanks, and a white center to the underparts. Females show stronger turquoise reflections on the crown and neck; the coastal subspecies has a greener crown.
Among 178 analyzed records of Azure-crowned Hummingbirds, 27 were from the stage before the second major feather change. During the first feather change, birds kept all the large feathers covering the wing surface. Some feathers in the neighboring row were replaced, leaving a boundary between old and new feathers. The retained young feathers were duller green and less glossy than adult plumage.
Fine ridges on the bill had disappeared by a young bird’s second major feather change. In 79 records with fully grown plumage, none showed these ridges. The feather change that leaves a bird in adult plumage was recorded from January to June. The second feather change of young birds occurred from August through the following April, about seven to ten months after the first. Plumage differences between males and females are small; changes in the wing feathers and bill are clues to a bird’s age.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.