Brown-backed Needletail vs Cock-tailed Tyrant

Hirundapus giganteus compared with Alectrurus tricolor

Key Differences

• Brown-backed Needletail is Least Concern while Cock-tailed Tyrant is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown-backed Needletail	Cock-tailed Tyrant
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Passeriformes (Songbirds)
Family	Apodidae	Tyrannidae
Genus	Hirundapus	Alectrurus
Species	Hirundapus giganteus	Alectrurus tricolor

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown-backed Needletail and Cock-tailed Tyrant share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Brown-backed Needletail

LC — Least Concern

Cock-tailed Tyrant

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown-backed Needletail	Cock-tailed Tyrant
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown-backed Needletail

Habitat

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

Range

Found in Norway.

Cock-tailed Tyrant

Habitat

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

Range

Found in Norway. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Brown-backed Needletail

The Brown-Backed Needletail (Hirundapus giganteus) is a species in the genus Hirundapus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Cock-tailed Tyrant

The cock-tailed tyrant (Alectrurus tricolor) is a striking and unusual flycatcher in the family Tyrannidae, named for the remarkable elongated, spatula-shaped outer tail feathers of the male, which can exceed the body length and are displayed during aerial courtship flights over open grasslands. The species inhabits wet and seasonally flooded grasslands, cerrado savanna, and campos in the interior of South America, including central Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina — not Norway, as erroneous database entries suggest. Males combine conspicuous black, white, and rufous plumage with their extraordinary tail streamers in an elaborate display to attract females on leks; females are cryptically streaked brown. The cock-tailed tyrant is a ground- and low-vegetation forager, preying on insects and other small invertebrates gleaned from grass stems and caught in aerial sallies. The species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to extensive and continuing conversion and degradation of its native Neotropical grassland habitat through intensive soy and sugarcane agriculture, cattle ranching, fire management changes, and drainage of seasonally flooded grasslands. Populations have declined significantly across much of its range, particularly in Brazil and Paraguay. The species is a flagship for threatened grassland conservation in South America, where relatively little protection has historically been directed at open-country habitats compared to forest ecosystems.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway