This small hummingbird uses the canopy and subcanopy of Andean forests. Male and female plumage and tail shape differ.
The male is about 10.5 cm long, with bright purple upperparts, an iridescent green throat, and a long forked tail. The female is about 8.5 cm, green above and whitish below with green speckles. Both sexes have a tiny, straight bill.
It uses the canopy and subcanopy of montane forests and forest edges; it is local in humid montane forest on Peru's western slope.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.