The male is distinguished by its white face and throat; its upper parts are dark brown to black with a greenish blue gloss.

[3] The white-throated jacamar is found in a small area of the upper Amazon Basin where eastern Peru, western Brazil, and northern Bolivia abut.

It perches in small groups on exposed branches in the canopy and sallies from there to catch its flying prey.

[3] One detailed study of the white-throated jacamar's breeding phenology was in Peru's Manu National Park.

Nests were found in August and September; they were partially hidden burrows in vertical stream banks.