This hummingbird inhabits moist Andean forests. It has a sharply pointed bill and is reported to pierce flowers near their base to take nectar through the opening.
The male has a glittering green chin and throat, white sides to the neck, a long stripe behind the eye, and a copper-bronze lower back and rump. The female has a white chin and upper throat heavily spotted with green.
It lives in moist montane forest. The sharply narrow bill can pierce a hole near the base of larger flowers, including Heliconia, allowing the bird to take nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.