This small hummingbird lives at forest edges and in scrub in northwestern Peru. The male has a white-edged purple throat patch, and the sexes differ in tail details.
The adult male is green above, mostly off-white below, and brown on the flanks. A white line borders the purple throat patch above; the tail is very short and dark.
In northwestern Peru it occurs at semi-deciduous forest edges and in scrub. Aves de Perú reports records up to 1,200 m in the foothills of the northwestern Andes.
The female is also green above. Her underparts have buff sides and a pale center to the belly; the dark tail has white tips.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.