[3] All Mexican sheartails have a long, curved and black bill, a dull green crown and bronzy-green nape and upperparts.

The female has a shorter forked tail, the outer feathers of which are reddish with a subterminal black band and white tips.

[4] It is found only in Mexico where it lives in two disjunct populations, one in the center of Veracruz and the other in the northern coastal area of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Mexican sheartail feeds on nectar from flowers and has been seen visiting Ipomoea, Justicia and Helicteres guazumaefolia.

The tiny cup-shaped nest is made of lichens, spiders webs and the seeds of daisy family plants.