Both sexes of both subspecies have a short, straight, blackish bill and a small white spot behind the eye.

Their gorget is glittering rose pink with violet highlights, and its longer hindward feathers flare out and back.

The rest of the tail feathers are rufous with a wide black band near the end; the outermost pair have white tips.

The species inhabits several montane landscapes including the interiors, edges, and clearings of semi-humid to humid pine-oak and evergreen forest, and also adjacent shrublands.

[8] The wine-throated hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of flowering plants, though details of its diet are lacking.

[8] Male wine-throated hummingbirds display for females at dispersed leks, where they sing from an exposed branch.

The wine-throated hummingbird's song is "a series of high, slightly buzzy, squeaky chips that break into a warble."

[1] The Mexican government considers it Threatened because its highland forest habitat is under pressure of clearing for agriculture and grazing.