The Purple-bibbed Whitetip was recorded visiting flowers during camera monitoring at Un poco del Chocó reserve in Pichincha Province, Ecuador. John Gould's historical account describes Ecuadorian males and females, while a 2006 taxonomic paper revisited confusion among related forms.
Gould's historical description gives males a green body and throat, a violet breast mark, and large white tips on the four central tail feathers. Females have a whitish underside with green spots and white tips on all but the central tail feathers.
A camera survey at Un poco del Chocó reserve in Pichincha Province, Ecuador, from 2017-3 to 2020-3 recorded five interactions between this hummingbird and two plant species. That total describes the study site, not the species' complete diet or general visitation rate.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.