They are seriously declining in the heart of their range, but possibly expanding their breeding range in the north and northeast and onto the Piedmont plateau and Atlantic coastal plain. In winter, D. cerulea is found in northern South America from Colombia and Venezuela south to southern Peru and northern Bolivia. It winters in foothills and middle elevations on the west slope of the Andes Mountains in Colombia and, in greater numbers, on the east slope of the Andes from Venezuela south. Local sightings are reported in southeast Brazil, and very small numbers may winter in Panama and Costa Rica. Strongly sexually dimorphic, D. cerulea , however, shows little seasonal variation in plumage.
Adult males are blue above and white below with dark back and side streaking and a dark breast band.
Adult females have a greenish mantle, a pale yellow breast and throat, a bluish crown, and a pale supercilium. Immature males resemble adult females but show dark streaks and more blue above. Immature females have no blue in their plumage. In the southern United States males weighed an average of 8.35 grams and females 8.04 grams and in the northern Unites States males weighed an average of 9.28 grams and females 8.83 grams. Less frequently, the birds will sally and hover-glean to capture insects.