The common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (1804–1881).

[6] It is noted that there is some variation in plumage for this species, but these differences do not relate to location[9] and is minimal when considering the wide range.

The chin, lores and upper throat are velvety black while the rest of the underparts are shining green.

Females also feature a malar stripe (from the base of the bill towards the neck) which is buff to chestnut coloured.

[6] It was later placed in the monotypic genus Polyplancta , however this was challenged as early as 1951 by Zimmer who suggested that it belonged in Heliodoxa.

[3] Due to the absence of any synapomorphies in either grouping, it remained in Polyplancta until 1989 when morphological data indicated the species is embedded in Heliodoxa;[14] a finding confirmed by subsequent research.

[16] The exact distribution of H.aurescens is not known, but considered unusual[17] since the other members of the genus have very narrow or restricted ranges, often at higher elevations in the Andes.

[20] The northern boundary of the range is in southern Venezuela,[5] which continues south through central Ecuador and Peru.

[21] It occupies a large area of north-western Brazil where the eastern boundary of the range is found in the State of Para.

[5] At this time, the southern boundary was considered to be La Pampa in Peru[22] but H.aurescens was detected in Bolivia in 1984[21] and in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in 2004.

[20] An extensive study on feeding guilds in Brazilian hummingbirds indicated that H.aurescens was not generally territorial[10] but they were omitted from the analysis of food plant use due to there being too few observations,[11] with only three specimens netted in a two-year survey.