In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the chestnut-bellied hummingbird was moved by most taxonomic systems to the resurrected genus Saucerottia.

The female is similar but with a slightly paler belly and white bars near the end of some throat feathers.

[9][1] The chestnut-bellied hummingbird is believed to move from higher to lower elevations after the breeding season.

[9] Details are lacking about the chestnut-bellied hummingbird's feeding technique and diet, but it is known to take nectar from Salvia and Trichanthera.

The chestnut-bellied hummingbird's song is "a short rhythmic phrase of three squeaky notes that sounds like a rusty door-hinge, 'krey-ki-cheep ... tsew ... krey-ki-cheep ...'."

In the twenty-first century there has been expansive economic growth, due to a gold rush in 1996 and also increasing logging.