This small hummingbird occurs on the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica and in far western Panama. Males have a white crest and long green cheek tufts, and visit flowers in forest edges and secondary growth.
Adult males have an erect white crest, glittering green throat, long cheek tufts, and a cinnamon-rufous belly. Females are duller and lack the crest and cheek tufts.
It seeks nectar mostly in the canopy, but also feeds lower down at forest edges and gardens. It gleans small arthropods from foliage and may shift toward areas with many blooming trees.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.