This large hummingbird occurs in humid mountain forests from western Colombia to northwestern Ecuador. It feeds on nectar at flowers.
The male has a long, deeply forked tail. Tail length varies with sex and individual.
It uses very wet foothill forest, lower montane cloud forest, edges, and tall secondary growth. It perches at flowers of Marcgravia and related plants to take nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.