Crested Cow-Wheat vs Long-tailed Sylph

Melampyrum cristatum compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Crested Cow-Wheat is Endangered while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Crested Cow-Wheat	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Lamiales (Lamiales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Orobanchaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Melampyrum	Aglaiocercus
Species	Melampyrum cristatum	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Crested Cow-Wheat

EN — Endangered

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Crested Cow-Wheat	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Crested Cow-Wheat

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway