This small hummingbird lives in humid highland forest on the eastern Andes. Adult males and females differ in tail and throat color.
The upperparts are green, and the underparts are brown with green speckles. An adult male has a coppery-green tail and a green gorget. An adult female has a dusky-green tail with whitish tips and no gorget.
It occurs in humid elfin forest on the eastern Andes, along forest edges, and in nearby shrubbery.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.