It is a member of the genus Lophornis, which was identified first by the French naturalist and surgeon René Lesson in 1829,[4] and includes a number of extremely small hummingbirds distributed across central and south America.

Females display no head crests, and instead their rufous coloured forehead feathers fade into the iridescent green ones which extend down their backs.

[3] This ritual involves a male performing a series of lateral oscillating flights in front of a perched female,[5] displaying its crest while doing so.

This pumping motion gives the birds an insect-like appearance, and often results in them being mistaken for sphinx moths, which share similar habitats and body sizes to the hummingbirds.

[5] Rufous-crested coquettes are primarily silent, however, they have been recorded to make a sharp "tsip" noise when foraging on nectar, as well as soft chipping sounds.

[5] Rufous-crested Croquettes favour humid forests with evergreen or semi-deciduous compositions, and travel large distances within these ecosystems in search of suitable foods.

While habitat loss due to deforestation is a major problem for bird species in South America, since the rufous-crested coquette feeds in open areas and forest clearings it is affected to a lesser degree.