The Green-backed Hillstar occurs on the northern eastern Andes of Peru and also in Colombia and Ecuador. It inhabits humid montane forest.
It is green above with a coppery rump, an iridescent blue throat and breast, and dark grey lower underparts. The tail is mostly white with a green central pair; the bill is straight and black.
Peru Aves reports it as rare in humid montane forest on the northern eastern Andean slope, at 500–1,400 m in Peru.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.