alstonia vs Long-tailed Sylph

Alstonia boonei compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	alstonia	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Gentianales (Gentianales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Apocynaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Alstonia	Aglaiocercus
Species	Alstonia boonei	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

alstonia

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	alstonia	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

alstonia

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Cameroon and Guinea.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

alstonia

The Alstonia (Alstonia boonei) is a species in the genus Alstonia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeo. Distributed across Cameroon and Guinea.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.