Ankle Thorn vs Long-tailed Sylph

Vachellia robusta compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Ankle Thorn	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Fabaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Vachellia	Aglaiocercus
Species	Vachellia robusta	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Ankle Thorn

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Ankle Thorn	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Ankle Thorn

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found in India.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Ankle Thorn

The Ankle Thorn (Vachellia robusta) is a species in the genus Vachellia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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.