The central tail feathers are dull greenish bronze between their cinnamon rufous bases and dusky ends.

The chin and throat vary widely from pale grayish buff to cinnamon tones and lack the male's tufts.

A separate population is on the Pacific side of Central America from Chiapas in Mexico south through much of western Guatemala.

The species inhabits semi-open landscapes at the edges of humid montane and lowland evergreen forests.

[5] The black-crested coquette is a year-round resident in most of its range but altitudinal movements have been noted in Costa Rica.

One nest in Costa Rica was active in March; it was a small cup at the end of a twig 8 m (26 ft) above the ground at the edge of forest.

It has also been reported making a "thin, high twittering when fighting and a quiet, slightly metallic teek when feeding".

[1] It is " vulnerable to widespread habitat loss or degradation, but otherwise human activity probably has little short term effect on this species.