The White-vented Plumeleteer is distributed from central Panama to Colombia and north-western Venezuela with a disjunct population in Ecuador classed by some authorities as a sub-species of Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer C. urochrysia. See the distribution map at NatureServe.

It is found in forest and at forest edges and in secondary growth from sea-level to about 2,000 metres.

The male, shown here, has a longish and slightly decurved black bill. It is green above and below though some sub-species are more blue below. The undertail coverts are puffy and white while the blue-black tail is long and slightly forked.