The adult male has a short rufous erectile crest; its longest feathers have green tips.

A white band separates the throat from the rest of the underparts, which are pale cinnamon.

The central tail feathers are green and the rest reddish cinnamon with black tips.

The throat is whitish with a white band below it and the rest of the underparts are pale cinnamon.

[5][6] The short-crested coquette is found only in Mexico, in the extremely restricted range of a 25 km (16 mi) stretch of the Atoyac-Paraíso-Puerto del Gallo road in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, north-west of Acapulco.

The species is threatened by continuing habitat loss caused by land clearing for agriculture including illegal narcotic crops.

The six total approximately 8,900 ha (34 sq mi) and are administered by the local communities.