[4] However, some authors have proposed that it belongs to the larger genus Philodice and others have assigned a second subspecies to it.

Both sexes have a long, straight, black bill and a large white patch on each side of the rump.

[3] The sparkling-tailed woodstar is found discontinuously in Mexico from Sinaloa in the west and Veracruz in the east through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into northern Nicaragua.

In elevation it generally ranges from 750 to 2,500 m (2,500 to 8,200 ft) though it occurs locally or seasonally almost down to sea level.

[3] The sparkling-tailed woodstar forages for nectar by trap-lining, visiting a circuit of flowering plants and trees.

It seeks nectar at all levels of the vegetation with a slow, bee-like flight, and apparently feeds at a wide variety of plants but details are lacking.

The sparkling-tailed woodstar's song is "a very high, thin, but musical squeaking in a continuous stream, rising and falling slightly and lasting for many seconds at a time."