Althea vs Long-tailed Sylph

Hibiscus syriacus compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

Althea is Not Evaluated while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Althea	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Malvaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Hibiscus	Aglaiocercus
Species	Hibiscus syriacus	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Althea

NE — Not Evaluated

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Althea

Habitat

Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (7 countries), Europe (18 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Marshall Islands, Tonga), and South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Althea

The Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) is a species in the genus Hibiscus. Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

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.