[5] The black-thighed puffleg is found in the Central Andes of Colombia from Tolima Department and south to Imbabura Province in northwestern Ecuador.

It inhabits bushy pastures and the edges of humid forest, and in Colombia has also been recorded in shrubby ravines.

[5] The black-thighed puffleg feeds on nectar, usually at the flowers of low-growing plants like Fuchsia and Arecaceae.

It has a moderately small range; its population size is not known and believed to be decreasing due to habitat loss.

[1] It is considered uncommon to locally common, and "[r]eadily takes to man-made habitats like pastures and gardens".