General: 3.25 to 4 inches in length.

Adult Male: Green head and body. Bright metallic-blue throat. Long, thin, bright reddish-orange bill with black tip. Small white spot behind eye. White undertail coverts and lower abdomen. Broad, dark steel-blue, forked tail. Immature similar to female, but may have blue throat feathers.

Adult Female: Green upperparts and sides. Grayish throat and underparts. Long, thin, dark bill with reddish lower mandible. Thin, white line behind eye. Broad, bronze-green, forked tail with pale outer tips.

Desert canyons, arid scrub, mesquite, open deciduous forest, and semi-desert.

Nesting

2 white eggs. The eggs have an ? day incubation period. Fledging occurs in ? days. The nest is loosely woven cup built on a vertical branch of a streamside tree.