This species of hummingbird is native to the Andes of Ecuador. Its main habitat type is high-altitude mountain grassland between 3500 and 5200 meters (11,500 and 17,000 feet).
This was one of our target birds in our Ecuador trip. We drove up 13,000 feet of the Antisana Volcano to search for this hummingbird. We were only half successful that we only saw the female. The colorful male with a glittering violet purple hood bordered below by a horizontal black chest stripe did not show up. I am still happy to be able to photograph this less colorful female.
