This hummingbird is endemic to the Santa Marta Mountains of northeastern Colombia. It has been little studied, so much of its natural-history information comes from observations in this small range.
Males have iridescent green and blue plumage, a dark blue tail, and a purple-blue throat. Females are green-blue on the back and sides and mostly greyish white below. Both sexes have a white spot behind the eye and a recurved black bill.
It is most often seen in low riparian thickets and along cloud-forest edges, where it feeds on nectar and insects; it has been recorded at banana flowers.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.