It inhabits humid montane forest and forest edge at 250-1,050 m on outlying ridges (DMNH specimens, Fitzpatrick and Willard 1982, Parker et al. 1996, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, Schulenberg et al. 2007). Gómez-Bernal et al. (2016) however also found records of the species at 960-1,320 m in Tendidos, Belén de Los Andaquíes. Expansion of the species north of the Caquetá River suggests an increase in altitudinal distribution of the species (Gómez-Bernal et al. 2016). Little is know about its food plants, but the species is thought to utilise flowers of Psittacanthus and Loranthaceae plants, as well as consuming small insects (Züchner et al. 2020). 

Heliodoxa gularis occurs in the east Andean foothills of south-west Colombia (Cauca and Putumayo) and adjacent north-central Ecuador (west Sucumbíos and west Napo), with records from north Peru (Loreto, Amazonas and San Martín) (Davis 1986, Hilty and Brown 1986, L. Dávalos in litt. 1999, Donegan and Salaman 1999, LSUMZ specimens per J. P. O'Neill in litt. 2000, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, Schulenberg et al. 2007). Gómez-Bernal et al. (2016) recorded the species further in the Piedmont regions, as well as the basin of the Caquetá river in Colombia; five individuals were captured in La Quisayá and one individual in Tendidos, Belén de Los Andaquíes. Expansion of the species north of the Caquetá River suggests an increase in altitudinal distribution of the species (Gómez-Bernal et al. 2016). However, there is some evidence that the species may be in decline across the Putumayo and Cauca regions generally, given that multiple surveys since 2016 have not found the species, albeit it is unknown if this is due to the genuine elusiveness of the species (O. Janni in litt. 2022).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. The species is present in the Ecuador-Peru East Andes EBA, as well as the Cueva de los Guácharos, Alto Fragua Indi-Wasi, and Serranía de los Churumbelos National Parks in Colombia (Züchner et al. 2020). 

Conservation Actions Proposed
Attempt to obtain an accurate estimate of its population size and trends. Search for the species in potentially suitable habitat at new sites. Study its ecological requirements and its ability to persist in degraded and fragmented habitats. Quantify the extent of habitat losses. Research the exact scale of trade and trapping on the population. Monitor populations at strongholds.
Effectively protect and manage core areas of remaining habitat.