It is found in the tropical New World in Central America from southern Mexico to Panama and northwest Colombia.

It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the purple honeycreeper (C. caeruleus), but the two species breed sympatrically in eastern Panama and northwest Colombia.

The female builds a shallow cup nest in a tree, and incubates a clutch of two eggs.

The male is purple-blue with black wings, tail and throat, and bright yellow legs.

The female has green upperparts, a greenish-blue head, buff throat and buff-streaked bluish underparts.