The Rufous-crested Coquette is distributed on the eastern slope of the Andes from Peru to Bolivia with a sub-species distributed in Colombia and Panama. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found at forest edges at between 500 and 2,000 metres but mainly below 1,400 metres.

Pierre Adolphe de Lattre was one of two French brothers and collectors who collected in the Americas from 1831 to 1851.